Heroes Fic: Mohinder's Mom (Part 3 of 3)
Mar. 15th, 2008 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereTitle: Mohinder's Mom
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: R
Word Count: Approximately 23,000.
Disclaimer: I own the ideas, not the characters.
Notes: I can't believe a silly idea that made me giggle got so long. Huge thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
celli who listened to me talk about this story for weeks and happily let me steal entire ideas from her. (No, really. At least a third of this is cannibalised straight from her head.) Thanks to everyone who commented with enthusiasm and glee as I worked on this and thank you to boymommytotwo for the careful beta.
Summary: Mohinder's mom didn't know about Molly or Matt, not until she stayed with her son for three weeks.
Continued from Part Two
***
The moment of insight -- the moment of brilliance when it all came together and they made connection -- didn't happen to Matt. It happened to Lamb. Matt got his call while walking Molly to school.
"Groceries."
"Lamb?" Matt asked, pulling a face at Molly, who shrugged back at him.
"It's groceries," Lamb said. "They all got groceries delivered by the same guy. Same guy who has now been missing from work for the last three days and liked to gamble. Owes a lot of money to wrong type of people."
Matt had seen the places that had been robbed. They were nice but there wasn't a fortune there. If this guy needed to pay serious debts there was more trouble coming.
"Shit." Matt looked down, remembering Molly. One problem at a time. "Do we have a list of his regular deliveries?"
"Working on it now," Lamb replied. "We've got uniform out checking the addresses."
"Anything--" Matt stopped himself; he didn't want to ask about bodies while a ten year old girl frowned at him for swearing.
"Nothing worth mentioning," Lamb said, "but they're all in the same area. I'll show you when you get in."
"Okay. Later," Matt said and hung up the phone.
Still frowning at him, Molly waited until he put the phone back in his jacket pocket. "I could tell Mohinder you said a swear word."
Matt couldn't believe a school kid was threatening to tell on him. "I was surprised."
"I'm not allowed to use those words. And Mohinder doesn't use those words," Molly said. She was serious, as serious about the no-swearing rule as Mohinder himself was.
Most of the time, Matt was pretty good with the no-swearing rule. Most of the time. The last thing he wanted right now was an overheard -- not said to him but definitely directed at him -- lecture from Mohinder's mom about obscenities and impressionable childhood minds. "I'm sorry, Molly. I'll try not to next time."
Matt smiled at her, and she watched him carefully for a moment, clearly weighing up her options.
"Okay." Satisfied, she nodded and went back to their previous conversation. "Micah says the problem with creating a thinking robot..."
***
Later, when talking to Detective Fuller, Matt would explain the incident clearly. He'd mention that they followed procedures: wore vests, announced their presence, told the suspect to drop his weapon. He'd state that five shots were heard: two missed, three hit an officer in the chest. (Due to the vest, only minor injuries were sustained.)
He'd explain that Lamb shot in retaliation and hit the suspect's right shoulder, causing him to drop the gun. Then the suspect was arrested and given medical treatment.
But that clarity came later. At the time, it wasn't simple. It was the sound of shots, too loud in the small apartment. It was being thrown back against the floor, winded and shocked as he realised he'd been hit. He'd been shot.
In that moment, he thought of Sylar, remembered Kirby Plaza. He worried if Molly was safe. If he was going to die.
Then he heard Lamb's shout, his answering fire. There was a yelp of pain, then the muffled thud of a gun hitting carpet.
"You okay?" Lamb called out over his shoulder, kicking the dropped gun away and keeping his weapon aimed at the suspect.
Matt gulped a breath. "Yeah."
"Lucky you were wearing the vest."
Full of too much adrenaline and slowly rising to his feet, Matt laughed. "Last time I bitch about wearing these things."
***
Matt's keys were jangling. He looked down at his right hand. It was shaking. Not much, barely a tremor.
After effects of adrenaline. Nothing more.
Matt clenched his hand, released. Clenched it again. It didn't help, so he switched his keys to his left hand and unlocked his front door.
The sight that greeted him... didn't, actually. Nobody looked up, nobody seemed to even notice he was home. Molly had Mohinder's laptop open on the couch and was absorbed in clicking through the Children's Encarta. Mohinder was sitting at the table -- his mom on one side, Mira on the other -- and the three of them were laughing, babbling in foreign sounds, hands gesturing as Mira and Mohinder interrupted each other.
Matt closed the door quietly and pocketed his keys, then stood still for a moment, watching.
Mohinder was breathless with laughter, flapping his hand at Mira and trying to talk through her with gasped words. He looked so young. It was so easy to imagine him as a college student talking to Mira after class, sharing a private joke.
He could imagine them as the perfect couple, inviting parents around and sharing plans for having children and living an ideal life. Never fighting, never being so angry at the other person you just want to yell in their face, never being terrified that one of you wouldn't come home alive that night.
Matt could have butted into the conversation and stopped the retelling of whatever hilarious story they were sharing, but there wasn't any point. It wasn't like he was going to be great company tonight. So he walked quietly past, heading straight for the bedroom.
Mohinder called out just before Matt made it to the door. "Matthew, there are leftovers in the fridge, if--"
"Ate at the station," Matt called back, not trusting himself to turn around, not trusting the smile to stay on his face. "Long day. Just want a shower and an early night."
He got the bedroom door shut behind him. For a moment, he closed his eyes. He saw the gun from today and saw Sylar at Kirby Plaza. He took a shuddering breath and then forced himself to move towards the bathroom.
***
"I know you said you ate," Mohinder's voice came through the bathroom door, "but did that meal include anything that didn't start life in a vending machine?"
Matt kept staring at the mirror. Belatedly, he replied, "I bought the packet of Doritos at a convenience store so technically, that's a yes."
"Then I'll heat up--" The door beside Matt started to open. He jerked sideways trying to stop it, but was too late. Mohinder's face went from confused to concerned in less than a second. "What happened?"
"It's nothing." Matt pulled his shirt closed and tried to smile. It didn't stop Mohinder stepping inside and locking the door behind him. "Also, the two of us locked alone in a bathroom this small is going to look suspicious."
"What happened?" Mohinder repeated, looking anything but amused. He batted Matt's hands away and carefully pushed Matt's shirt open.
"Really, it's no big--"
"Matthew Ezekiel Parkman." Mohinder had never even talked to his mom, so it was a little amazing that he managed to perfectly mimic her reaction when he got suspended for a day after throwing a water balloon at his history teacher. Mohinder even got the slightly hurt, disappointed expression right. "This is not the time to lie to me. Now tell me what happened."
"Look," Matt started again, but the expression on Mohinder's face made him pause. There was annoyance, disappointment, and very real fear beneath it. "I'm okay. An arrest didn't go as planned, but I'm okay."
Mohinder glanced down at his chest doubtfully. "You look like someone attacked you with a baseball bat."
Matt swallowed. "Kevlar vest."
"A Kevlar vest attacked you with a baseball bat?"
"No, I--" His throat closed over the words 'got shot'. Matt tried again. "I was wearing the Kevlar vest. The guy was twitchy and he had a gun."
Mohinder nodded slowly. "And now?"
"And now he's getting a shoulder wound treated in a secure ward and looking forward to a long, all expenses paid holiday courtesy of our justice system."
Carefully, Mohinder laid a cool hand across Matt's chest, right over his heart. The heel of his hand covered half of a dark-red bruise, already speckled with indigo. Mohinder couldn't stop staring at it. "But you're okay?"
Matt wanted to say, 'No.' He wanted to say, 'A guy shot me in the chest and the last time that happened, there were hours of surgery and later being told it was touch and go.' He wanted to say, 'I was terrified and it hurt and this is me freaking out, so can you ignore your mom and your ex and just stay here?' But then he'd have to watch Mohinder make that regretful little grimace, watch him apologise or try to make up an excuse his mother would believe. So instead, he said, "No holes that weren't there this morning."
"Matthew," Mohinder said, voice soft and devastating.
"I'm fine. I'm just not in the mood to deal with your mom." Matt reached behind Mohinder and unlocked the bathroom door. Using a hand on Mohinder's shoulder and one low on his back, Matt gently pushed him out. "Now go back out there before she starts suggesting I need help to unscrew the toothpaste cap."
Turning, Mohinder gave him one last long look, clearly weighing something in his mind. Then he stepped out.
Matt closed the door and considered himself lucky that Mohinder hadn't noticed the tremors in his right hand.
***
Showered? Check.
Appropriately dressed? Check.
Lying in bed? Check.
Sleeping?
...Not so much.
Matt stared at the ceiling and fought the urge to run through the litany once again. Obsessing about the fact that he wasn't sleeping wasn't going to make him fall asleep any faster. Still, the showered-dressed-bed thought kept running through his mind.
It was better than other things he could be thinking about. For instance, how close he'd come to having another three bullets lodged in his chest.
Drawing in an unsteady breath, Matt went back to the litany -- showered, dressed, in bed -- and forced his fists to unclench. He was almost happy to hear the bedroom door open, just for the distraction. "Hey, Molly."
Molly stood in the doorway for a moment, pushing a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear. "Mohinder said you don't want any dinner."
"I'm not hungry, honey," he said gently. She hovered there, watching him quietly, so he waved her closer.
"Are you sure?" she asked, sitting beside him on the bed and folding her legs beneath her. "It's really good. I helped make it."
"I'm sure it is." It was an effort to smile, but he managed it. "But I already ate."
Molly wriggled, settling into the bed. "We learned about plants today."
"Really?" Matt's had months to get used to sudden shifts in conversation -- both from Molly and Mohinder -- but sometimes, it still caught him off guard. Luckily, an interested sounding 'Really?' usually worked.
It worked this time too, because Molly nodded happily and started explaining.
"Yeah, it was really cool. We got to learn about why plants are green and how they get nutrients," she says that word carefully, clearly proud of her new knowledge, "and the teacher even brought one in to show us."
Matt frowned, exaggerating the gesture. "Doesn't sound very interesting."
Molly's eyes went wide. "He had a carnivorous plant!"
Continuing to hold the confused frown on his face, Matt asked, "Like a dinosaur?" He got the expected reaction: Molly shook her head and then started to explain with great enthusiasm.
"No, carnivorous means meat-eating. These are plants that actually eat insects! They lure them with really yummy-smelling nectar and then trap them. And they have this acid inside that drowns them and eats away the flesh!"
Blinking, Matt wondered if all children were quite this fascinated with death and destruction. On the one hand, he didn't want to think it was just Molly; on the other, it was more disturbing if all children thought that way. "That's kind of..."
"Cool?" Molly suggested, obviously loving the viciousness of the natural world.
"I was going to say creepy," Matt said, sitting up a bit higher, and Molly rolled her eyes. "Which one did you get to see?"
"A Venus Flytrap. It's really cool, it actually snaps--" Molly broke off, mid-sentence and then held her hands up, wrists together, hands forming a V. "It has these traps. They look like flowers, all pink and pretty, but they have sharp spines at the top like teeth." Molly wriggled her fingers to draw Matt's attention, and bent them at the first knuckle so her fingertips were facing each other.
Matt nodded, rather charmed by her seriousness. "Okay."
"Then, a bug comes along, smells the nectar, and--" She frowned for a moment, then looked up. "You're going to have to be the bug, Matt."
"I'm an insect now?"
"Just for the purpose of this demonstration." It was a phrase she'd definitely picked up from Mohinder. While it sounded stuffy and overly formal in Mohinder's sharp tones, it was adorable coming out of Molly's mouth.
"Okay, what do I have to do?"
"You're the bug, so you have to fly in and land on my palm," Molly said, not moving her hands from the trap. Matt pointed his finger and moved it through the air, but couldn't resist making buzzing noises.
"You're supposed to land," Molly chided.
"I'm a curious bug. I enjoy flying, exploring the big, wide world."
"Matt."
"Okay, fine," Matt said, bringing his finger down in the middle of her small palm, "I've landed."
"Now, while you're eating, the trap starts to close very slowly. So slowly you don't even notice." With great concentration, Molly closed her hands slowly, closing them around Matt's finger.
"And I starve to death?"
"Mmm-hm." Molly grinned brightly. "And eventually you fall into the acid, and I eat you."
"Unless," Matt said, wriggling his finger and then pulling it free of Molly's grip, "I'm a super-powered fly and escape."
Molly looked at him like a third-grade teacher trapped in a child's body. "That's just silly."
"What's silly?"
Matt looked up to see Mohinder close the bedroom door behind him. "Super-powered bugs," Matt said as Mohinder sat on the bed beside him, long legs stretched above the covers. "What happened to your mother?"
"Mira had a spare ticket to the Met."
"Mira's a sports fan?"
"The Metropolitan Opera House," Mohinder explained with the hint of a smile. "I wasn't in the mood, so I suggested she take my mother instead."
"Oh," Matt said, feeling uncertain for no good reason. He leaned back, lying down again, trying to ignore the strange flutter of anxiety trapped behind his sternum. He rolled over to his side, back to Mohinder, and reached an arm out towards Molly, resting a hand loosely against her back.
It wasn't that he didn't want Mohinder here, it was just that... He didn't even know. He knew that he didn't want to talk about it -- he didn't even want to think about it, not for a few hours at least -- and if Mohinder had got rid of his mom for the night, then he'd probably have to talk about it and…
His thoughts were interrupted by the weight of Mohinder's arm curling around his chest, resting carelessly on the cover. A weight across his chest should make it harder to breathe, not easier.
From behind him, Mohinder said, "So why are super-powered bugs ridiculous?"
"Molly said they were silly," Matt said, wrapping his hand around the back of Mohinder's and squeezing gently. Mohinder squeezed back. "Because I said that a super-powered bug could escape a Venus Flytrap."
"It couldn't because carnivorous plants are way cooler than bugs," Molly replied, arms crossed defiantly. "Besides, it's not likely that a bug's going to develop super-powers."
"I don't see why not," Mohinder replied thoughtfully. "The insect world is frequently the first to adapt to external pressures."
"A carnivorous plant is a natural predator."
"So since it's not a new pressure, there shouldn't be a new response," Mohinder said slowly, sounding pleased with the conversation.
"Exactly."
Matt closed his eyes, listening to the conversation. There was something so comforting about the familiar rhythms of them talking, of Mohinder trying to coach Molly through the basics of evolutionary theories.
"But what if there was another pressure in the environment?" he heard Mohinder ask.
"Like what?"
"Like a new insect spray that was rapidly reducing the population of those bugs."
"That would be a new pressure," Molly said, and she sounded further away, slightly harder to hear, "and the bugs might respond to that?"
"Yes," Mohinder said, arm around Matt but voice muted and distant, "due to the new pressure of their environment, the next evolutionary step might be to increase adrenal responses in times of stress, thereby giving them extra strength when their lives were threatened."
Matt thought, 'I shouldn't fall asleep'. Then he did.
***
When he woke up, the bedside lamp was on. Mohinder was sitting up, knees tenting the covers, reading a journal.
Matt yawned, still half-asleep but feeling a hundred times better. "You're still awake?"
"I wanted to read this." It was Mohinder-speak for 'I was worried about you'.
Matt moved closer to him, reached under the covers to rest a hand on Mohinder's thigh. "You should get some sleep."
Mohinder folded the journal closed, allowing, "It is rather late." He laid it on the bedside table and then reached for the lamp.
"And Mohinder?" Matt asked, and Mohinder paused, turning back to look at him, "I'll be okay."
Mohinder nodded woodenly.
"I've got time off. A whole week, actually. I'll probably have to see the department therapist and I might be a bit on edge for a while, but I'll be okay. Eventually."
Mohinder turned off the light, then shimmied down the bed, under the blankets. In the dark, he found Matt's shoulder with his hand, found Matt's cheek with his lips. "I'm sure you will be. But if you were not..."
"The world would be a much darker place?" Matt joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"My world would," Mohinder said seriously, then kissed him, slow and achingly sincere. Matt returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around Mohinder and holding on, even after the kiss was over.
They fell asleep like that, arms around each other, and Matt wasn't sure who was comforting who.
***
Mohinder came out of the bedroom wearing a grey suit and lavender shirt, with a charcoal-striped tie hanging over one arm.
"Leave the tie," Matt suggested. "Looks like you're trying too hard to impress."
Mohinder ducked back into the bedroom and returned, without the tie. He was smooth-shaven and the top button of his shirt was undone, pale cotton framing dark skin. For a moment, Matt let his mind wander. He thought about pressing Mohinder back against the kitchen counter, flipping open the small buttons, one by one, sliding his hands down bare skin and then dropping to his knees...
Matt cleared his throat. "Who are you trying to impress, anyway?"
Mohinder grinned, giving a slight shake of his head. Judging by his amused but slightly interested expression, Matt's thoughts must have been showing. "Mira," then he added, "well, Mira's company. She's taking me for a tour of her lab today."
"You're dressed nicely so you can play with someone else's microscope?"
"If I didn't know better, I'd assume that was a very bad sexual euphemism," Mohinder said mildly, startling a laugh out of Matt. Before Molly -- or, god forbid, Mohinder's mom -- could ask what the joke was, Mohinder thankfully continued. "Mira used the supposed lie of trying to recruit me to get me access."
"Supposed?" Matt asked, opening the cupboard door and reaching for cereal. "Is she trying to recruit you?"
"Not precisely. But if I suggested working for the New York branch..."
"She wouldn't say no?"
"She'd make sure the employment contract was signed by the end of the week." Mohinder smiled, tugging at his cuffs.
There was something in Mohinder's tone that made Matt pause. "Are you interested? In working for her lot?"
Frowning at his cuffs, trying to pull them straight beneath the jacket sleeves, Mohinder said, "Not now."
"Not now you know their dirty secret?" Matt joked.
"No," Mohinder said firmly, rolling his eyes at Matt's melodramatic tone. "Not right now because I have research of my own that I'm pursuing. But they are working on some very interesting ideas, and my priorities may change in the future."
"So you want to make a good impression," Matt said, walking over to the table with a bowl full of cereal and milk. "Just in case."
"Exactly." Mohinder nodded and then seemed to notice that Matt was dressed for work, too. "I thought the department gave you a week off?"
"Want to check a couple reports with Lamb, sign where I'm supposed to sign, that sort of stuff. I've got to go in for an appointment with the department shrink anyway, so I figured I'd get it all done today."
"You have an appointment with a psychiatrist?" Mohinder asked.
Mouth full of Frosty Loops, Matt nodded.
"And you're not, perhaps, a little concerned about it?"
"Nah," Matt replied, shovelling another spoonful of milky, sugary goodness into his mouth.
Mohinder frowned, waving a hand back and forth, unwilling to say anything more. "But..."
Matt swallowed. "For a scientist, I'm amazed at your reluctance here."
Mohinder looked highly offended. "Psychiatry is hardly a science."
"He's a trained professional," Matt replied, rolling his eyes. "He's employed to help cops like me deal with this stuff. He's a good guy, if a bit sleepy."
"Sleepy?"
"This is the guy who evaluated me before the NYPD approved the transfer." When Mohinder still looked vaguely interested instead of amused, Matt realised he hadn't shared this story before. "There I am, sitting on his well-padded chair, talking about my suspension, about hitting a fellow officer, about not regretting it because the guy had sat beside my in a squad car for years and then slept with my wife. There he is, sitting back in the chair opposite me, eyes closed, listening so carefully to everything I'm saying."
Mohinder nodded, so Matt continued, "It made me nervous. Made me stop and think about what I was saying, about whether I was sounding like a reasonable guy, the kind of guy you'd trust with a loaded gun. And then the most hilarious thing in the world happened."
A pause, then Mohinder asked, "What?"
"He snored!" Matt couldn't help chuckling. "He actually snored and woke himself up. And he was all, 'Yes, yes, that sounds very encouraging,' and he hadn't been listening to a word of it."
The corner of Mohinder's lips twitched, but he said, "I think I would find that unsettling in a medical professional."
Shrugging, Matt gathered another spoonful of cereal. "Maybe you had to be there," he said, raising the spoon with a grin.
***
Mohinder returned with his shirt sleeves rolled up and talking like he'd had five espressos in the last hour. Mostly, Matt nodded along, chiming in with "Really?", "Oh," "Huh," and "Mmm-hm," when needed. He didn't understand the specifics but the overall gist was the labs were well-stocked, the researchers Mohinder had met were smart and welcoming, and the tour had been an all-around success. "It went well, huh?"
"Yes, it went very well," he said with a smile. Looking up over his steaming cup of tea, Mohinder fell silent for the first time in at least an hour. "Was I boring you?
"I wasn't bored." He hadn't been. Watching Mohinder talk about science was one of Matt's guilty pleasures. He only understood one word in five, but it wasn't like he was paying attention to the research: he was normally too distracted staring at Mohinder's bright smile, the sparkle in his eyes, those long fingers waving nonsense patterns in the air. Mohinder looked so young when he was excited, like an overgrown kid -- an excited third-grader talking about his science project -- and Matt found his happiness contagious, even if he didn't understand the reason behind it. "I'm just wondering what it means," Matt said, peeling a potato.
"They offered me an analyst position. Not full-time, but something I could fit around my own research. I wouldn't be performing the experiments but analysing the results, attempting to find patterns and theorising." That shining, happy smile was back on Mohinder's face. "It would involve extra work -- extra hours, certainly -- but it would be extremely interesting and most of the work could be done from home."
Mohinder wasn't asking for permission, not precisely, but he was edging around it. Matt could hear the unspoken question behind his words. "Sure you won't burn out from thinking too much?"
"I doubt it, but we could try and see if my head explodes," Mohinder said, half-joking. "If it made life too awkward, I could resign. I would still have my current job. It wouldn't be a financial risk."
Placing the potato on the chopping board, Matt started peeling the next one. "So we'll try," he said, giving Mohinder a quick grin, "but if your head explodes, you'll only have yourself to blame."
Mohinder moved to get a knife out of the drawer. As he brushed past Matt, he slid a hand across the small of Matt's back and murmured into his ear, "Duly noted."
"I wouldn't want to be blamed for--" There was a sudden clatter of footsteps and then a door was slammed shut. Molly's bedroom door. Going on instinct, Matt scanned her thoughts and picked up 'They should have told me,' and 'It's not fair!' Molly sounded upset. He turned back to Mohinder, who looked suddenly serious.
"Do you--" Mohinder started.
"Yeah," Matt said, shoving the half-peeled potato into Mohinder's hands, "I'll go talk to her."
Ignoring the look from Mohinder's mom on the couch -- a polite stare that still accused him of being a bad parent -- Matt walked over to Molly's room. He knocked lightly, then let himself in and made sure he closed the door behind him.
Molly was sitting on her bed, legs over the side, socked feet just touching the floor, and holding a pillow in front of her. Not holding so much as squeezing the life out of it, arms wrapped tightly around it, face buried against cotton. "Go away," she said, small and muffled.
Matt did what any good father would do in this situation: he ignored his kid's wishes. He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her back. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not a baby," she said, lifting her head to glare at him. She looked as if she was about to cry. "You should have told me."
"Told you what, honey?"
The glare got angrier and she blinked fast, holding the tears back. "That Mohinder's leaving."
"What?" Matt demanded, surprised at the random accusation. "Mohinder's not going anywhere."
Molly stared at him doubtfully.
"His next work trip is months away. You know that, Molly."
"Not on a trip. Leaving leaving."
Matt leaned over and tugged the pillow out of her grip. "Trust me, Molly, Mohinder's not leaving. We're not keeping anything from you." Then he pulled her into a sideways hug and stifled the wince when she hugged back and accidentally pressed against one of his bruises.
After a moment of quiet, she sniffled and said, "Maybe Mohinder didn't tell you either."
"He'd tell me, Molly," Matt said confidently. He doesn't add, 'he wouldn't have a choice' because Molly has definite ideas about the ethics of reading someone's mind and Matt can't tell her how he'd know. It'd be the same way Matt found out about his own birthday party. (When he's naked and panting, Mohinder isn't good at keeping secrets.) "I'd know."
"But what if you didn't? What if this time he didn't tell you?"
He thoughts for a moment. "You know how responsible Mohinder is when it comes to bills, right? The way he double checks things and makes sure everything's paid?"
She nodded against his chest but didn't look up. "Yeah?"
"Can you imagine him just skipping town and not worrying about outstanding bills?" Smoothing a hand over her hair, Matt hoped this tactic worked. "We'd have to get the utilities changed to my name, we'd have to sign for a new lease. There'd be a whole bunch of things to do and I'd have to sign half of them. You really think he'd leave without organizing that stuff first?"
She shook her head, because Mohinder was that kind of guy: the kind that worried, the kind that cared. The kind that would never consider disappearing without saying goodbye, let alone do it.
The type of guy that had perfect timing, Matt thought as Mohinder opened the door a foot. Matt caught his eye and nodded, and Mohinder came over.
"Okay, just to clear this up," Matt said clearly as Mohinder knelt in front of them, "Mohinder, do you have super secret plans to leave us?"
"What? No!" Mohinder sounded deeply offended and Matt had a moment of regret, thinking he could have eased into the subject a little. "Why would you think that?"
Molly sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve as she watched Mohinder. "You're not going?"
"Is that why you're upset? Oh, Molly," Mohinder said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She ducked her head against his collar. Mohinder met Matt's eyes over her shoulder and said, "Matt and I, we're staying right here with you. If there's one thing you can depend on, it's that we'll be here."
"Pretty much forever," Matt added.
"Forever?" Molly scoffed, sounding better.
"Forever. Trust me, when you're thirty-two and still living in this room, you'll wish it wasn't true, but that's just the way things are. You're stuck with us."
"I'm not going to be living at home when I'm ancient," Molly replied.
Matt boggled at her idea of 'ancient'. It was amazing a child could make him feel so old. From the startled grin Mohinder shot him, he wasn't the only one suddenly feeling like a geriatric.
"Molly," Mohinder said gently, "why did you think I was leaving?"
Molly's reply was a little muffled. "We were watching a documentary on elephants and they had these shots of India, and I asked if that's what it was really like."
She'd been watching TV with Mohinder's mom, Matt realized, putting two and two together. "And what did--" Matt caught himself before he called her an 'interfering old battle-axe', "--she say?"
"That India was just like that. That it was busy and full of colour, and incredible. She said that, that…" Molly lifted her head, frowning like a miserable chipmunk. "She said that I should come and see. She said that she was sure that-- that Mohinder would let me come and visit, after he'd set up his new home."
Matt was waiting for it, had expected it, so he was watching for Mohinder's reaction. He saw the way his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, saw the moment of cold fury pass across his face before he covered it with a polite smile. "My mother must have been confused. We did discuss returning to India but I meant as a vacation. For the three of us."
"Really?" Molly was resilient. She went from upset to interested in the space of a heartbeat. "When?"
"We don't know yet, Molly. There would be a lot of factors to consider and it would take quite a bit of arranging. But I would like to introduce you to the rest of my family, show you where I was born and where I went to school," Mohinder said, looking over at Matt. Matt nodded -- in a 'we'll talk about this later' way -- and Mohinder continued, "I never planned to leave you. My mother must have been a little confused."
Molly shrugged. "Maybe I misunderstood?"
Mohinder shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you get your shoes and your coat."
"Why?" Molly asked, sitting up so quickly she toppled a little and landed against Matt.
"Because we're going out to dinner tonight and you'll need your coat." Mohinder caught Matt's eye and the smile dropped away. "Give me a moment to tell my mother."
"Sure," Matt said. While Mohinder walked out of Molly's room, he stayed and helped locate the shoes hiding under her math book. As Molly sat on the bed and put them on, he sauntered over to her doorway and pushed the door open enough to see into the living room.
Mohinder was standing behind the table, fingers clenched tightly on the back of a chair. From the couch, Mohinder's mom was saying something in Tamil that sounded reasonable but clearly wasn't, and Mohinder's grip was getting tighter. When she paused for breath, he said, "No. This is not acceptable. While you are staying in my home--"
"This is not your home, Mohinder," she said as if reminding a child.
"While you are here, you will not upset my family."
"They are hardly your family," she added calmly. "Your family and your home are back in India, in Madras. You know this. If you would stop being so stubborn, you would see that it is time to return. It is time to stop running from the future."
"We have been nothing but hospitable to you, mother. We have accepted you into our home and while you are here you will not needlessly upset a child." She started to say something but he spoke through her. "My future is here. Matthew and Molly are my family, and wherever they are, that is where my home will be."
"You are being foolish, talking nonsense, Mohinder."
"I do not expect your support or your acceptance, but you must understand that I love them very much. I love Molly dearly," Mohinder took a deep breath -- the momentary silence rang in Matt's ears -- then added, "And Matthew. I love him in a way… I didn't think I was capable of loving another person."
"When this infatuation passes, you will be left--"
"They are my family," Mohinder spat back, tone fierce and unforgiving. "For the rest of this visit, if you wish to stay in my home, you will respect them and you will act civilly. If you cannot do that for the remaining few days, I would suggest you book a hotel."
There was a tug on his sleeve, so Matt looked down. Looking worried, Molly whispered, "Is it okay?"
"Everything's fine." Matt grinned and scooped her into a hug. There was silence in the living room. It was the silence of two very stubborn people glaring at each other. Matt opened the door as loudly as he could and carried Molly in. "Ready to go?"
"Almost." Mohinder's smile was strained, but he looked relieved. Then he turned that strained smile on his mom. "The three of us are going out for dinner. We'll be back later."
***
Mohinder walked out the apartment tense as a block of concrete. It wasn't until the elevator doors closed behind them that he relaxed, sagging against the wall. "I can't believe I just said that to my mother," he said softly while Molly pushed a button for Mrs Ledson.
Matt glanced ahead -- Molly was busy talking to Mrs Ledson, telling her about Venus Flytraps, judging by her gestures -- then leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to the curve of Mohinder's cheekbone. "My hero."
"I don't feel very heroic," Mohinder said, teetering on the edge of freaking out. "I feel nervous and terrified. And slightly nauseous. I can't believe I said that."
"I've lived with your mom for two weeks. I know she's the face of evil and you stood up to her. For us." Matt knew he was wearing a goofy smile but he couldn't bring himself to care how goofy-in-love he looked. "In my books, that definitely makes you a hero."
Mohinder sighed. He still looked stunned and a little horrified. "She may not speak to me."
"Is that a problem?"
"Ever again," Mohinder clarified. "She may not even be there when we return."
"Mohinder?" Matt asked gently. He waited until Mohinder met his gaze before continuing, "she'll still be there."
"How can you be sure?"
"Easy. I'm not that lucky."
***
Sometimes, Matt hated being right.
When they got back, she was sitting on the couch, reading a novel. She said nothing; didn't even look up as they got in.
Mohinder carried Molly to bed without a word.
***
The war of silence continued the next day.
The whole apartment felt muffled with it, like the words Mohinder and his mom weren't saying were too loud to talk over. Matt ignored it best as he could. He focused on getting a subdued Molly to school on time, hung around the station until Lamb threatened to use him as a human dartboard if he didn't go home and then rode the Long Island ferry until it was time to pick Molly up again. But after a night of increasingly uncomfortable conversations, where Mohinder and his mom talked to Molly but not each other, he had to say something.
"You know I don't like your mom, right?" Matt asked after Mohinder came to bed.
From the darkness beside him, Mohinder said quietly, "She will only be here another few days. If you could be patient a little longer, this will be over."
"That wasn't what I meant." Matt shimmied across the bed. Mohinder was lying on his back so it was easy to loop an arm around chest and mouth a kiss to the fine skin behind his ear. "I meant that I don't like the woman, so I'm saying this for your benefit, not hers. Talk to her."
"She's the one who isn't talking to me."
"It doesn't matter. She's your mom, you don't see her often. You don't want the visit to end like this."
"I don't want to talk to her," Mohinder said quietly, hand snaking around Matt's back.
"Whatever happens, it won't be as bad as you're imagining."
"No, it could be worse."
"It won't be."
"I already know her opinion of the situation." Even in the dark, Matt could tell Mohinder was frowning. "I can't imagine her saying anything I would want to hear."
"Then don't talk about me and Molly. Just tell her that it was good to see her, that you'd missed her, but talk to her. You don't want this to end on a fight."
"Maybe I do. Maybe it's best."
"Well, I don't want it ending like this," Matt said, propping himself up on an elbow and poking Mohinder's shoulder. "It'll mess with my cunning plan."
Mohinder snorted. "Cunning plan?"
"It's a very cunning plan. It involves you taking Friday off work and spending the day with me while Molly's at school."
"As far as ulterior motives go, that's not particularly devious," Mohinder pointed out. "And I can't see how talking to my mother will have any impact on it."
"If you don't talk to her before she leaves Thursday night, you'll be moody and introspective on Friday. Personally," Matt added, before Mohinder could argue, "I'd prefer you in a better mood. And naked."
Mohinder huffed, but didn't say anything.
"Think about it," Matt said, letting it end there. He knew when to pick his battles.
***
He caught Mohinder in the bathroom the next morning. Standing in front of the mirror, Mohinder was putting the electric shaver down as Matt stepped behind him and slid two hands around his waist. "Did you think about my cunning plan?"
"Yes." Mohinder caught his gaze in the mirror, then smiled. "I'll arrange to take Friday off."
"And…?" Matt prompted.
Mohinder grimaced but leaned back against Matt's chest. "I don't want to talk to her."
"I know." Pressing a kiss against Mohinder's bare shoulder, Matt added, "But it's the right thing to do."
"That's hardly fair."
"I've seen what you'll do to protect me and Molly, what you'll do to protect anyone who needs it. I know what sort of guy you are," Matt said and Mohinder's reflection looked surprised but pleased. "I know you'd want to fix this."
"Not right now, not this morning," Mohinder stalled, placing his hands over Matt's.
"Then tonight."
"But not in front of Molly." For a moment, Mohinder looked angry, then he hid it beneath a wry smile. "I can't be sure of what my mother would say and I don't want Molly to--"
"Okay," Matt said, talking over him. "Not in front of Molly. I can take her out or we can get someone to watch her, if you want me there."
Lower lip caught between white teeth, Mohinder thought for a moment. Finally, he shook his head. "It would probably be better if it were only the two of us. You look after Molly. I'll take my mother out for dinner."
"Think of it as paving the way for the future," Matt said, giving Mohinder's hands a squeeze and then stepping away. "It's a way of showing Molly that no matter how ugly an argument gets, when it's family, you can come back on it. You want her to have that example."
Mohinder turned, looking a little amused. "Why?"
"In ten years time, we're going to have the exact same argument with her. I'd bet good money on that."
For a moment, Mohinder looked stunned. Then he started to chuckle. "Fine, tonight. Now go before you give me nightmares of our future," he said, and shooed Matt out the door.
***
In a weird way, Matt had gotten used to passing the day with Mohinder's mom in virtual silence. He didn't really notice the difference.
She still sat reading while he watched TV and sorted laundry. She still cooked her own lunch and made herself cups of tea.
The only difference was that she paused when he got himself a glass of juice from the fridge and said, "My son--" and then stopped.
Matt could have ignored her. Pretended he didn't hear and walked back to the couch. Maybe he should have, but he heard himself saying, "Yeah?"
"He can be very rash," she said, glancing down at the floor. "He will commit to an idea before he fully understands the implications and the sacrifices it will demand."
Matt blinked. One argument in every twenty-four hours was enough, so he curbed his urge to defend Mohinder's 'rash' choices. "Then I'm pretty lucky," he said instead. When Mohinder's mom looked up in surprise, he added, "In this city, it's nearly impossible to find a guy who's willing to commit."
She blinked at him in shock. Matt had a tiny moment of feeling smug.
***
Matt picked Molly up at school. He let her play with the other kids for a while and then dawdled to the pizza place on the corner.
He was secretly relieved that the apartment was empty when they got back. It meant he could turn the TV on -- cartoons, obviously -- tear the pizza box in half, and eat on the couch.
He handed Molly the box lid but she looked unimpressed. "We're supposed to eat dinner at the table."
"I won't tell if you won't."
Molly gave him a shrewd look, then took the makeshift cardboard plate. She helped herself to two slices and settled down on the couch beside Matt.
It was two commercial breaks later before she thought to ask, "Where's Mohinder?"
"He took his mom out for dinner. It's her last night here," Matt managed not to sound too gleeful at the thought, "and he wanted to spend some time with her."
"I thought they were fighting," Molly said, biting into the sliver of crust that remained of her second slice.
"You want another piece?" Matt offered and she stole the one with the most anchovies. "They weren't really fighting."
"They were arguing. And then they weren't talking."
Matt nudged her shoulder with his. "Sometimes kids and parents argue. It's not the end of the world."
"But…" Looking down, Molly picked an anchovy off her slice and popped it into her mouth. She was quiet for a while and Matt was tempted to use his powers, just a little. If it wasn't for that pesky deal he had with Mohinder -- no stupid split-second decisions about the Company, no using his powers at home without Mohinder's agreement -- he would have.
What was the point of having super-powers if he had to watch his little girl pout and pick on fish?
"What, Molly?"
She shrugged, then said, "I think they were fighting about me."
"Not exactly." Because Matt was a coward, he bit into his pizza and stalled for time as he chewed. "It was more about Mohinder than you."
"Uh-huh?"
She still looked worried, so Matt thought carefully about how to phrase it. "You know how much Mohinder likes living here?"
"In this apartment?" For a moment, she smiled. "Even though it's too small for three people and we could afford a better place and a kid should really have a yard to play in?"
Matt winced. Clearly, Molly's ears were better than he'd thought. Or she faked sleep very well. "I meant New York, but close enough. Anyway, Mohinder's mom wants him to move back to India, to live closer to her."
Molly nodded. Then she asked quietly, "Matt?"
"Yeah?"
She placed a hand on his and for a moment, he worried about what Molly would say. Carefully, as if she was scared of hurting his feelings, she said, "I don't think Mohinder's mom likes you very much."
Matt did not laugh. He might have snorted, but he didn't laugh. "Yeah, I get that impression too. But it's okay. I think Mohinder likes me enough for both of them."
Satisfied, she turned back to the cartoons. Matt concentrated on not laughing. (That could wait until he told Mohinder about this conversation.)
***
After he put Molly to bed, Matt sat on the couch until he heard footsteps outside their door. He switched the TV off and retreated to the bedroom as keys jangled in the lock.
He'd just got into bed when Mohinder came in, looking tired. "How'd it go?"
"As well as could be expected," Mohinder said, sitting on the edge of Matt's side of the bed. "We both clarified our positions, but she made it clear she thinks Mira is better suited to me."
Mohinder sighed. There was something about the way he said Mira's name that made Matt suspicious.
"Your mom invited Mira to join you?"
"How did you guess?" Mohinder asked dryly. "My mother had arranged for her to meet us there."
Pushing a hand through his hair, Matt was filled with exasperation, and a very tiny bit of admiration, for her persistence. "That woman just doesn't give up."
"I've never known her to give in without a battle." Mohinder slumped forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I'm quite sure she always had her own way. It's why I was so surprised she let my father leave for America without a fight."
Matt smoothed a hand down Mohinder's spine, thin cotton shirt warm under his palm. He wished he could make this easier. "How was the meal?"
"The food was fine. The company… it was terribly awkward. Mira used the excuse of an early flight to leave within the first hour. I stood with her while she waited for a taxi," Mohinder added suddenly. Mohinder's mouth twisted in confusion or embarrassment, Matt wasn't sure which. "Apparently, Mira thinks you're quite lovely."
Matt couldn't help himself. He snuck a quick peek inside Mohinder's head, caught the echo of the memory. 'Really, Mohinder,' he heard Mira saying fondly, 'your Matthew is quite lovely. Eventually your mother will see that too.'
Feeling a little ashamed, Matt pulled back. "Okay, fine. Mira's on the Christmas card list."
Mohinder chuckled. "My mother and I did talk. I think it's a truce. Or an agreement to disagree. But we're talking."
Grinning, Matt fought the urge to say 'I told you so,' but Mohinder read him like a book. He raised an eyebrow and said, "If it's going to stop you grinning like a Cheshire Cat, you might as well say it."
"Say what?"
"I told you so?"
"Nah." Matt reached up, hooking an arm around Mohinder's shoulders and another around his ribs, and tugged hard. Mohinder toppled across Matt's chest, reaching hands out to catch himself and landed with his face mashed against Matt's collarbone.
Mohinder pulled his head up a few inches, enough to shake his head at Matt in mock-disappointment and say, "Matthew."
"I can think of better things to tell you," Matt said softly, pressing a kiss against Mohinder's roughly stubbled cheek, just because it was there and easy to reach.
Separated by covers, by clothes, by the knowledge that tomorrow night they'd have their place back so tonight wasn't going anywhere, Mohinder still mmm'd close to Matt's ear and curled a hand under the sleeve of Matt's t-shirt. "What would you tell me?"
"That you did the right thing," Matt said, sucking a soft kiss to the corner of Mohinder's chin. "That our daughter knows your mom doesn't like me. And was worried about telling me, in case she hurt my feelings."
Barely an inch from his own face, Mohinder's raised eyebrow popped into view. "Really?"
So Matt told him word for word. This time, he let himself laugh.
***
The next night, they got to the airport two hours early. Matt had planned the route and the timing. He didn't care that they were early, as long as they made it. (There was no way in hell that woman was missing her flight and spending so much as an extra few hours in their apartment.) He'd said as much to Mohinder, who merely nodded, kissed his cheek and said, "Don't kill her before she's finished packing," and disappeared out the door.
The day hadn't been too bad. She'd packed while Matt spent most of the time waiting in the bedroom, listening to his iPod at maximum volume.
Now they were sitting at the departure gate in uncomfortable plastic chairs, surrounded by rows of identical chairs and buzzed or weary travellers, and waiting for the call to board. Matt was staring out the big glass window, watching the baggage handlers load the plane. A big black suitcase fell off the ramp, clattering to the ground; Mott hoped really, really hard it was the one that belonged to Mohinder's mom.
Beside him, the steady flow of Tamil stopped and he glanced up as Mohinder stood. "Molly wants a drink," Mohinder explained, clearly needing a break. "We will be back in a few minutes."
Matt could have glared. Instead, he looked at the clock: ninety-three minutes to go. He kept staring at the clock (ninety-one minutes) until a coolly civil, "Detective Parkman?" made him turn.
Once he'd made eye-contact, he was pretty sure he couldn't ignore her outright. "Yeah?" he asked warily, silently willing Mohinder to get back. Right now.
"I know my son and I know what is best for him," she said and Matt almost groaned in frustration. "He may refuse to acknowledge sense, but returning home would be in his best interest, just as I believe Mira would be a better match for his future."
Rubbing a hand along his jaw, Matt couldn't help checking the clock again. Still ninety minutes to go. "He doesn't agree. Neither do I."
"Eventually, he will stop being so stubborn and he will re-evaluate his priorities and come home. But until he does," she paused, glancing down and then stared him square in the eye, "take care of him."
There was no mistaking it for a request: it was an order, plain and simple. Matt knew how to respond to orders. "Yes, ma'am."
Thankfully, she fell silent until Mohinder returned.
***
When the call finally came, there were hugs for Mohinder and Molly. Matt got a terse nod and, "Please remember what we discussed." Then she was lining up, presenting her boarding pass, and disappearing down the narrow corridor as Molly waved.
"Should we go?" Mohinder asked, but Matt shook his head.
"Not until the plane takes off. I want to be certain she's gone." Mohinder stayed beside him, one hand low on his back, until the plane rumbled down the asphalt and lifted into the air. "Now we can go."
Halfway out, surrounded by busy, tired crowds, Matt remembered something. "Did I mention my mom's team won their bridge tournament?"
Mohinder shook his head, smiling a little. "I don't think so."
"The finals are being held in Manhattan and they won a place. She'll be here the last weekend this month."
The expression Mohinder turned on him was one of utter terror. "She will?"
"Don't worry," Matt said quickly. "We'll tell her we're out of town that weekend."
Mohinder's hand slipped into his. "My hero," he teased and Matt laughed.
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: R
Word Count: Approximately 23,000.
Disclaimer: I own the ideas, not the characters.
Notes: I can't believe a silly idea that made me giggle got so long. Huge thanks to
celli who listened to me talk about this story for weeks and happily let me steal entire ideas from her. (No, really. At least a third of this is cannibalised straight from her head.) Thanks to everyone who commented with enthusiasm and glee as I worked on this and thank you to boymommytotwo for the careful beta.Summary: Mohinder's mom didn't know about Molly or Matt, not until she stayed with her son for three weeks.
Continued from Part Two
***
The moment of insight -- the moment of brilliance when it all came together and they made connection -- didn't happen to Matt. It happened to Lamb. Matt got his call while walking Molly to school.
"Groceries."
"Lamb?" Matt asked, pulling a face at Molly, who shrugged back at him.
"It's groceries," Lamb said. "They all got groceries delivered by the same guy. Same guy who has now been missing from work for the last three days and liked to gamble. Owes a lot of money to wrong type of people."
Matt had seen the places that had been robbed. They were nice but there wasn't a fortune there. If this guy needed to pay serious debts there was more trouble coming.
"Shit." Matt looked down, remembering Molly. One problem at a time. "Do we have a list of his regular deliveries?"
"Working on it now," Lamb replied. "We've got uniform out checking the addresses."
"Anything--" Matt stopped himself; he didn't want to ask about bodies while a ten year old girl frowned at him for swearing.
"Nothing worth mentioning," Lamb said, "but they're all in the same area. I'll show you when you get in."
"Okay. Later," Matt said and hung up the phone.
Still frowning at him, Molly waited until he put the phone back in his jacket pocket. "I could tell Mohinder you said a swear word."
Matt couldn't believe a school kid was threatening to tell on him. "I was surprised."
"I'm not allowed to use those words. And Mohinder doesn't use those words," Molly said. She was serious, as serious about the no-swearing rule as Mohinder himself was.
Most of the time, Matt was pretty good with the no-swearing rule. Most of the time. The last thing he wanted right now was an overheard -- not said to him but definitely directed at him -- lecture from Mohinder's mom about obscenities and impressionable childhood minds. "I'm sorry, Molly. I'll try not to next time."
Matt smiled at her, and she watched him carefully for a moment, clearly weighing up her options.
"Okay." Satisfied, she nodded and went back to their previous conversation. "Micah says the problem with creating a thinking robot..."
***
Later, when talking to Detective Fuller, Matt would explain the incident clearly. He'd mention that they followed procedures: wore vests, announced their presence, told the suspect to drop his weapon. He'd state that five shots were heard: two missed, three hit an officer in the chest. (Due to the vest, only minor injuries were sustained.)
He'd explain that Lamb shot in retaliation and hit the suspect's right shoulder, causing him to drop the gun. Then the suspect was arrested and given medical treatment.
But that clarity came later. At the time, it wasn't simple. It was the sound of shots, too loud in the small apartment. It was being thrown back against the floor, winded and shocked as he realised he'd been hit. He'd been shot.
In that moment, he thought of Sylar, remembered Kirby Plaza. He worried if Molly was safe. If he was going to die.
Then he heard Lamb's shout, his answering fire. There was a yelp of pain, then the muffled thud of a gun hitting carpet.
"You okay?" Lamb called out over his shoulder, kicking the dropped gun away and keeping his weapon aimed at the suspect.
Matt gulped a breath. "Yeah."
"Lucky you were wearing the vest."
Full of too much adrenaline and slowly rising to his feet, Matt laughed. "Last time I bitch about wearing these things."
***
Matt's keys were jangling. He looked down at his right hand. It was shaking. Not much, barely a tremor.
After effects of adrenaline. Nothing more.
Matt clenched his hand, released. Clenched it again. It didn't help, so he switched his keys to his left hand and unlocked his front door.
The sight that greeted him... didn't, actually. Nobody looked up, nobody seemed to even notice he was home. Molly had Mohinder's laptop open on the couch and was absorbed in clicking through the Children's Encarta. Mohinder was sitting at the table -- his mom on one side, Mira on the other -- and the three of them were laughing, babbling in foreign sounds, hands gesturing as Mira and Mohinder interrupted each other.
Matt closed the door quietly and pocketed his keys, then stood still for a moment, watching.
Mohinder was breathless with laughter, flapping his hand at Mira and trying to talk through her with gasped words. He looked so young. It was so easy to imagine him as a college student talking to Mira after class, sharing a private joke.
He could imagine them as the perfect couple, inviting parents around and sharing plans for having children and living an ideal life. Never fighting, never being so angry at the other person you just want to yell in their face, never being terrified that one of you wouldn't come home alive that night.
Matt could have butted into the conversation and stopped the retelling of whatever hilarious story they were sharing, but there wasn't any point. It wasn't like he was going to be great company tonight. So he walked quietly past, heading straight for the bedroom.
Mohinder called out just before Matt made it to the door. "Matthew, there are leftovers in the fridge, if--"
"Ate at the station," Matt called back, not trusting himself to turn around, not trusting the smile to stay on his face. "Long day. Just want a shower and an early night."
He got the bedroom door shut behind him. For a moment, he closed his eyes. He saw the gun from today and saw Sylar at Kirby Plaza. He took a shuddering breath and then forced himself to move towards the bathroom.
***
"I know you said you ate," Mohinder's voice came through the bathroom door, "but did that meal include anything that didn't start life in a vending machine?"
Matt kept staring at the mirror. Belatedly, he replied, "I bought the packet of Doritos at a convenience store so technically, that's a yes."
"Then I'll heat up--" The door beside Matt started to open. He jerked sideways trying to stop it, but was too late. Mohinder's face went from confused to concerned in less than a second. "What happened?"
"It's nothing." Matt pulled his shirt closed and tried to smile. It didn't stop Mohinder stepping inside and locking the door behind him. "Also, the two of us locked alone in a bathroom this small is going to look suspicious."
"What happened?" Mohinder repeated, looking anything but amused. He batted Matt's hands away and carefully pushed Matt's shirt open.
"Really, it's no big--"
"Matthew Ezekiel Parkman." Mohinder had never even talked to his mom, so it was a little amazing that he managed to perfectly mimic her reaction when he got suspended for a day after throwing a water balloon at his history teacher. Mohinder even got the slightly hurt, disappointed expression right. "This is not the time to lie to me. Now tell me what happened."
"Look," Matt started again, but the expression on Mohinder's face made him pause. There was annoyance, disappointment, and very real fear beneath it. "I'm okay. An arrest didn't go as planned, but I'm okay."
Mohinder glanced down at his chest doubtfully. "You look like someone attacked you with a baseball bat."
Matt swallowed. "Kevlar vest."
"A Kevlar vest attacked you with a baseball bat?"
"No, I--" His throat closed over the words 'got shot'. Matt tried again. "I was wearing the Kevlar vest. The guy was twitchy and he had a gun."
Mohinder nodded slowly. "And now?"
"And now he's getting a shoulder wound treated in a secure ward and looking forward to a long, all expenses paid holiday courtesy of our justice system."
Carefully, Mohinder laid a cool hand across Matt's chest, right over his heart. The heel of his hand covered half of a dark-red bruise, already speckled with indigo. Mohinder couldn't stop staring at it. "But you're okay?"
Matt wanted to say, 'No.' He wanted to say, 'A guy shot me in the chest and the last time that happened, there were hours of surgery and later being told it was touch and go.' He wanted to say, 'I was terrified and it hurt and this is me freaking out, so can you ignore your mom and your ex and just stay here?' But then he'd have to watch Mohinder make that regretful little grimace, watch him apologise or try to make up an excuse his mother would believe. So instead, he said, "No holes that weren't there this morning."
"Matthew," Mohinder said, voice soft and devastating.
"I'm fine. I'm just not in the mood to deal with your mom." Matt reached behind Mohinder and unlocked the bathroom door. Using a hand on Mohinder's shoulder and one low on his back, Matt gently pushed him out. "Now go back out there before she starts suggesting I need help to unscrew the toothpaste cap."
Turning, Mohinder gave him one last long look, clearly weighing something in his mind. Then he stepped out.
Matt closed the door and considered himself lucky that Mohinder hadn't noticed the tremors in his right hand.
***
Showered? Check.
Appropriately dressed? Check.
Lying in bed? Check.
Sleeping?
...Not so much.
Matt stared at the ceiling and fought the urge to run through the litany once again. Obsessing about the fact that he wasn't sleeping wasn't going to make him fall asleep any faster. Still, the showered-dressed-bed thought kept running through his mind.
It was better than other things he could be thinking about. For instance, how close he'd come to having another three bullets lodged in his chest.
Drawing in an unsteady breath, Matt went back to the litany -- showered, dressed, in bed -- and forced his fists to unclench. He was almost happy to hear the bedroom door open, just for the distraction. "Hey, Molly."
Molly stood in the doorway for a moment, pushing a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear. "Mohinder said you don't want any dinner."
"I'm not hungry, honey," he said gently. She hovered there, watching him quietly, so he waved her closer.
"Are you sure?" she asked, sitting beside him on the bed and folding her legs beneath her. "It's really good. I helped make it."
"I'm sure it is." It was an effort to smile, but he managed it. "But I already ate."
Molly wriggled, settling into the bed. "We learned about plants today."
"Really?" Matt's had months to get used to sudden shifts in conversation -- both from Molly and Mohinder -- but sometimes, it still caught him off guard. Luckily, an interested sounding 'Really?' usually worked.
It worked this time too, because Molly nodded happily and started explaining.
"Yeah, it was really cool. We got to learn about why plants are green and how they get nutrients," she says that word carefully, clearly proud of her new knowledge, "and the teacher even brought one in to show us."
Matt frowned, exaggerating the gesture. "Doesn't sound very interesting."
Molly's eyes went wide. "He had a carnivorous plant!"
Continuing to hold the confused frown on his face, Matt asked, "Like a dinosaur?" He got the expected reaction: Molly shook her head and then started to explain with great enthusiasm.
"No, carnivorous means meat-eating. These are plants that actually eat insects! They lure them with really yummy-smelling nectar and then trap them. And they have this acid inside that drowns them and eats away the flesh!"
Blinking, Matt wondered if all children were quite this fascinated with death and destruction. On the one hand, he didn't want to think it was just Molly; on the other, it was more disturbing if all children thought that way. "That's kind of..."
"Cool?" Molly suggested, obviously loving the viciousness of the natural world.
"I was going to say creepy," Matt said, sitting up a bit higher, and Molly rolled her eyes. "Which one did you get to see?"
"A Venus Flytrap. It's really cool, it actually snaps--" Molly broke off, mid-sentence and then held her hands up, wrists together, hands forming a V. "It has these traps. They look like flowers, all pink and pretty, but they have sharp spines at the top like teeth." Molly wriggled her fingers to draw Matt's attention, and bent them at the first knuckle so her fingertips were facing each other.
Matt nodded, rather charmed by her seriousness. "Okay."
"Then, a bug comes along, smells the nectar, and--" She frowned for a moment, then looked up. "You're going to have to be the bug, Matt."
"I'm an insect now?"
"Just for the purpose of this demonstration." It was a phrase she'd definitely picked up from Mohinder. While it sounded stuffy and overly formal in Mohinder's sharp tones, it was adorable coming out of Molly's mouth.
"Okay, what do I have to do?"
"You're the bug, so you have to fly in and land on my palm," Molly said, not moving her hands from the trap. Matt pointed his finger and moved it through the air, but couldn't resist making buzzing noises.
"You're supposed to land," Molly chided.
"I'm a curious bug. I enjoy flying, exploring the big, wide world."
"Matt."
"Okay, fine," Matt said, bringing his finger down in the middle of her small palm, "I've landed."
"Now, while you're eating, the trap starts to close very slowly. So slowly you don't even notice." With great concentration, Molly closed her hands slowly, closing them around Matt's finger.
"And I starve to death?"
"Mmm-hm." Molly grinned brightly. "And eventually you fall into the acid, and I eat you."
"Unless," Matt said, wriggling his finger and then pulling it free of Molly's grip, "I'm a super-powered fly and escape."
Molly looked at him like a third-grade teacher trapped in a child's body. "That's just silly."
"What's silly?"
Matt looked up to see Mohinder close the bedroom door behind him. "Super-powered bugs," Matt said as Mohinder sat on the bed beside him, long legs stretched above the covers. "What happened to your mother?"
"Mira had a spare ticket to the Met."
"Mira's a sports fan?"
"The Metropolitan Opera House," Mohinder explained with the hint of a smile. "I wasn't in the mood, so I suggested she take my mother instead."
"Oh," Matt said, feeling uncertain for no good reason. He leaned back, lying down again, trying to ignore the strange flutter of anxiety trapped behind his sternum. He rolled over to his side, back to Mohinder, and reached an arm out towards Molly, resting a hand loosely against her back.
It wasn't that he didn't want Mohinder here, it was just that... He didn't even know. He knew that he didn't want to talk about it -- he didn't even want to think about it, not for a few hours at least -- and if Mohinder had got rid of his mom for the night, then he'd probably have to talk about it and…
His thoughts were interrupted by the weight of Mohinder's arm curling around his chest, resting carelessly on the cover. A weight across his chest should make it harder to breathe, not easier.
From behind him, Mohinder said, "So why are super-powered bugs ridiculous?"
"Molly said they were silly," Matt said, wrapping his hand around the back of Mohinder's and squeezing gently. Mohinder squeezed back. "Because I said that a super-powered bug could escape a Venus Flytrap."
"It couldn't because carnivorous plants are way cooler than bugs," Molly replied, arms crossed defiantly. "Besides, it's not likely that a bug's going to develop super-powers."
"I don't see why not," Mohinder replied thoughtfully. "The insect world is frequently the first to adapt to external pressures."
"A carnivorous plant is a natural predator."
"So since it's not a new pressure, there shouldn't be a new response," Mohinder said slowly, sounding pleased with the conversation.
"Exactly."
Matt closed his eyes, listening to the conversation. There was something so comforting about the familiar rhythms of them talking, of Mohinder trying to coach Molly through the basics of evolutionary theories.
"But what if there was another pressure in the environment?" he heard Mohinder ask.
"Like what?"
"Like a new insect spray that was rapidly reducing the population of those bugs."
"That would be a new pressure," Molly said, and she sounded further away, slightly harder to hear, "and the bugs might respond to that?"
"Yes," Mohinder said, arm around Matt but voice muted and distant, "due to the new pressure of their environment, the next evolutionary step might be to increase adrenal responses in times of stress, thereby giving them extra strength when their lives were threatened."
Matt thought, 'I shouldn't fall asleep'. Then he did.
***
When he woke up, the bedside lamp was on. Mohinder was sitting up, knees tenting the covers, reading a journal.
Matt yawned, still half-asleep but feeling a hundred times better. "You're still awake?"
"I wanted to read this." It was Mohinder-speak for 'I was worried about you'.
Matt moved closer to him, reached under the covers to rest a hand on Mohinder's thigh. "You should get some sleep."
Mohinder folded the journal closed, allowing, "It is rather late." He laid it on the bedside table and then reached for the lamp.
"And Mohinder?" Matt asked, and Mohinder paused, turning back to look at him, "I'll be okay."
Mohinder nodded woodenly.
"I've got time off. A whole week, actually. I'll probably have to see the department therapist and I might be a bit on edge for a while, but I'll be okay. Eventually."
Mohinder turned off the light, then shimmied down the bed, under the blankets. In the dark, he found Matt's shoulder with his hand, found Matt's cheek with his lips. "I'm sure you will be. But if you were not..."
"The world would be a much darker place?" Matt joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"My world would," Mohinder said seriously, then kissed him, slow and achingly sincere. Matt returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around Mohinder and holding on, even after the kiss was over.
They fell asleep like that, arms around each other, and Matt wasn't sure who was comforting who.
***
Mohinder came out of the bedroom wearing a grey suit and lavender shirt, with a charcoal-striped tie hanging over one arm.
"Leave the tie," Matt suggested. "Looks like you're trying too hard to impress."
Mohinder ducked back into the bedroom and returned, without the tie. He was smooth-shaven and the top button of his shirt was undone, pale cotton framing dark skin. For a moment, Matt let his mind wander. He thought about pressing Mohinder back against the kitchen counter, flipping open the small buttons, one by one, sliding his hands down bare skin and then dropping to his knees...
Matt cleared his throat. "Who are you trying to impress, anyway?"
Mohinder grinned, giving a slight shake of his head. Judging by his amused but slightly interested expression, Matt's thoughts must have been showing. "Mira," then he added, "well, Mira's company. She's taking me for a tour of her lab today."
"You're dressed nicely so you can play with someone else's microscope?"
"If I didn't know better, I'd assume that was a very bad sexual euphemism," Mohinder said mildly, startling a laugh out of Matt. Before Molly -- or, god forbid, Mohinder's mom -- could ask what the joke was, Mohinder thankfully continued. "Mira used the supposed lie of trying to recruit me to get me access."
"Supposed?" Matt asked, opening the cupboard door and reaching for cereal. "Is she trying to recruit you?"
"Not precisely. But if I suggested working for the New York branch..."
"She wouldn't say no?"
"She'd make sure the employment contract was signed by the end of the week." Mohinder smiled, tugging at his cuffs.
There was something in Mohinder's tone that made Matt pause. "Are you interested? In working for her lot?"
Frowning at his cuffs, trying to pull them straight beneath the jacket sleeves, Mohinder said, "Not now."
"Not now you know their dirty secret?" Matt joked.
"No," Mohinder said firmly, rolling his eyes at Matt's melodramatic tone. "Not right now because I have research of my own that I'm pursuing. But they are working on some very interesting ideas, and my priorities may change in the future."
"So you want to make a good impression," Matt said, walking over to the table with a bowl full of cereal and milk. "Just in case."
"Exactly." Mohinder nodded and then seemed to notice that Matt was dressed for work, too. "I thought the department gave you a week off?"
"Want to check a couple reports with Lamb, sign where I'm supposed to sign, that sort of stuff. I've got to go in for an appointment with the department shrink anyway, so I figured I'd get it all done today."
"You have an appointment with a psychiatrist?" Mohinder asked.
Mouth full of Frosty Loops, Matt nodded.
"And you're not, perhaps, a little concerned about it?"
"Nah," Matt replied, shovelling another spoonful of milky, sugary goodness into his mouth.
Mohinder frowned, waving a hand back and forth, unwilling to say anything more. "But..."
Matt swallowed. "For a scientist, I'm amazed at your reluctance here."
Mohinder looked highly offended. "Psychiatry is hardly a science."
"He's a trained professional," Matt replied, rolling his eyes. "He's employed to help cops like me deal with this stuff. He's a good guy, if a bit sleepy."
"Sleepy?"
"This is the guy who evaluated me before the NYPD approved the transfer." When Mohinder still looked vaguely interested instead of amused, Matt realised he hadn't shared this story before. "There I am, sitting on his well-padded chair, talking about my suspension, about hitting a fellow officer, about not regretting it because the guy had sat beside my in a squad car for years and then slept with my wife. There he is, sitting back in the chair opposite me, eyes closed, listening so carefully to everything I'm saying."
Mohinder nodded, so Matt continued, "It made me nervous. Made me stop and think about what I was saying, about whether I was sounding like a reasonable guy, the kind of guy you'd trust with a loaded gun. And then the most hilarious thing in the world happened."
A pause, then Mohinder asked, "What?"
"He snored!" Matt couldn't help chuckling. "He actually snored and woke himself up. And he was all, 'Yes, yes, that sounds very encouraging,' and he hadn't been listening to a word of it."
The corner of Mohinder's lips twitched, but he said, "I think I would find that unsettling in a medical professional."
Shrugging, Matt gathered another spoonful of cereal. "Maybe you had to be there," he said, raising the spoon with a grin.
***
Mohinder returned with his shirt sleeves rolled up and talking like he'd had five espressos in the last hour. Mostly, Matt nodded along, chiming in with "Really?", "Oh," "Huh," and "Mmm-hm," when needed. He didn't understand the specifics but the overall gist was the labs were well-stocked, the researchers Mohinder had met were smart and welcoming, and the tour had been an all-around success. "It went well, huh?"
"Yes, it went very well," he said with a smile. Looking up over his steaming cup of tea, Mohinder fell silent for the first time in at least an hour. "Was I boring you?
"I wasn't bored." He hadn't been. Watching Mohinder talk about science was one of Matt's guilty pleasures. He only understood one word in five, but it wasn't like he was paying attention to the research: he was normally too distracted staring at Mohinder's bright smile, the sparkle in his eyes, those long fingers waving nonsense patterns in the air. Mohinder looked so young when he was excited, like an overgrown kid -- an excited third-grader talking about his science project -- and Matt found his happiness contagious, even if he didn't understand the reason behind it. "I'm just wondering what it means," Matt said, peeling a potato.
"They offered me an analyst position. Not full-time, but something I could fit around my own research. I wouldn't be performing the experiments but analysing the results, attempting to find patterns and theorising." That shining, happy smile was back on Mohinder's face. "It would involve extra work -- extra hours, certainly -- but it would be extremely interesting and most of the work could be done from home."
Mohinder wasn't asking for permission, not precisely, but he was edging around it. Matt could hear the unspoken question behind his words. "Sure you won't burn out from thinking too much?"
"I doubt it, but we could try and see if my head explodes," Mohinder said, half-joking. "If it made life too awkward, I could resign. I would still have my current job. It wouldn't be a financial risk."
Placing the potato on the chopping board, Matt started peeling the next one. "So we'll try," he said, giving Mohinder a quick grin, "but if your head explodes, you'll only have yourself to blame."
Mohinder moved to get a knife out of the drawer. As he brushed past Matt, he slid a hand across the small of Matt's back and murmured into his ear, "Duly noted."
"I wouldn't want to be blamed for--" There was a sudden clatter of footsteps and then a door was slammed shut. Molly's bedroom door. Going on instinct, Matt scanned her thoughts and picked up 'They should have told me,' and 'It's not fair!' Molly sounded upset. He turned back to Mohinder, who looked suddenly serious.
"Do you--" Mohinder started.
"Yeah," Matt said, shoving the half-peeled potato into Mohinder's hands, "I'll go talk to her."
Ignoring the look from Mohinder's mom on the couch -- a polite stare that still accused him of being a bad parent -- Matt walked over to Molly's room. He knocked lightly, then let himself in and made sure he closed the door behind him.
Molly was sitting on her bed, legs over the side, socked feet just touching the floor, and holding a pillow in front of her. Not holding so much as squeezing the life out of it, arms wrapped tightly around it, face buried against cotton. "Go away," she said, small and muffled.
Matt did what any good father would do in this situation: he ignored his kid's wishes. He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her back. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not a baby," she said, lifting her head to glare at him. She looked as if she was about to cry. "You should have told me."
"Told you what, honey?"
The glare got angrier and she blinked fast, holding the tears back. "That Mohinder's leaving."
"What?" Matt demanded, surprised at the random accusation. "Mohinder's not going anywhere."
Molly stared at him doubtfully.
"His next work trip is months away. You know that, Molly."
"Not on a trip. Leaving leaving."
Matt leaned over and tugged the pillow out of her grip. "Trust me, Molly, Mohinder's not leaving. We're not keeping anything from you." Then he pulled her into a sideways hug and stifled the wince when she hugged back and accidentally pressed against one of his bruises.
After a moment of quiet, she sniffled and said, "Maybe Mohinder didn't tell you either."
"He'd tell me, Molly," Matt said confidently. He doesn't add, 'he wouldn't have a choice' because Molly has definite ideas about the ethics of reading someone's mind and Matt can't tell her how he'd know. It'd be the same way Matt found out about his own birthday party. (When he's naked and panting, Mohinder isn't good at keeping secrets.) "I'd know."
"But what if you didn't? What if this time he didn't tell you?"
He thoughts for a moment. "You know how responsible Mohinder is when it comes to bills, right? The way he double checks things and makes sure everything's paid?"
She nodded against his chest but didn't look up. "Yeah?"
"Can you imagine him just skipping town and not worrying about outstanding bills?" Smoothing a hand over her hair, Matt hoped this tactic worked. "We'd have to get the utilities changed to my name, we'd have to sign for a new lease. There'd be a whole bunch of things to do and I'd have to sign half of them. You really think he'd leave without organizing that stuff first?"
She shook her head, because Mohinder was that kind of guy: the kind that worried, the kind that cared. The kind that would never consider disappearing without saying goodbye, let alone do it.
The type of guy that had perfect timing, Matt thought as Mohinder opened the door a foot. Matt caught his eye and nodded, and Mohinder came over.
"Okay, just to clear this up," Matt said clearly as Mohinder knelt in front of them, "Mohinder, do you have super secret plans to leave us?"
"What? No!" Mohinder sounded deeply offended and Matt had a moment of regret, thinking he could have eased into the subject a little. "Why would you think that?"
Molly sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve as she watched Mohinder. "You're not going?"
"Is that why you're upset? Oh, Molly," Mohinder said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She ducked her head against his collar. Mohinder met Matt's eyes over her shoulder and said, "Matt and I, we're staying right here with you. If there's one thing you can depend on, it's that we'll be here."
"Pretty much forever," Matt added.
"Forever?" Molly scoffed, sounding better.
"Forever. Trust me, when you're thirty-two and still living in this room, you'll wish it wasn't true, but that's just the way things are. You're stuck with us."
"I'm not going to be living at home when I'm ancient," Molly replied.
Matt boggled at her idea of 'ancient'. It was amazing a child could make him feel so old. From the startled grin Mohinder shot him, he wasn't the only one suddenly feeling like a geriatric.
"Molly," Mohinder said gently, "why did you think I was leaving?"
Molly's reply was a little muffled. "We were watching a documentary on elephants and they had these shots of India, and I asked if that's what it was really like."
She'd been watching TV with Mohinder's mom, Matt realized, putting two and two together. "And what did--" Matt caught himself before he called her an 'interfering old battle-axe', "--she say?"
"That India was just like that. That it was busy and full of colour, and incredible. She said that, that…" Molly lifted her head, frowning like a miserable chipmunk. "She said that I should come and see. She said that she was sure that-- that Mohinder would let me come and visit, after he'd set up his new home."
Matt was waiting for it, had expected it, so he was watching for Mohinder's reaction. He saw the way his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, saw the moment of cold fury pass across his face before he covered it with a polite smile. "My mother must have been confused. We did discuss returning to India but I meant as a vacation. For the three of us."
"Really?" Molly was resilient. She went from upset to interested in the space of a heartbeat. "When?"
"We don't know yet, Molly. There would be a lot of factors to consider and it would take quite a bit of arranging. But I would like to introduce you to the rest of my family, show you where I was born and where I went to school," Mohinder said, looking over at Matt. Matt nodded -- in a 'we'll talk about this later' way -- and Mohinder continued, "I never planned to leave you. My mother must have been a little confused."
Molly shrugged. "Maybe I misunderstood?"
Mohinder shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you get your shoes and your coat."
"Why?" Molly asked, sitting up so quickly she toppled a little and landed against Matt.
"Because we're going out to dinner tonight and you'll need your coat." Mohinder caught Matt's eye and the smile dropped away. "Give me a moment to tell my mother."
"Sure," Matt said. While Mohinder walked out of Molly's room, he stayed and helped locate the shoes hiding under her math book. As Molly sat on the bed and put them on, he sauntered over to her doorway and pushed the door open enough to see into the living room.
Mohinder was standing behind the table, fingers clenched tightly on the back of a chair. From the couch, Mohinder's mom was saying something in Tamil that sounded reasonable but clearly wasn't, and Mohinder's grip was getting tighter. When she paused for breath, he said, "No. This is not acceptable. While you are staying in my home--"
"This is not your home, Mohinder," she said as if reminding a child.
"While you are here, you will not upset my family."
"They are hardly your family," she added calmly. "Your family and your home are back in India, in Madras. You know this. If you would stop being so stubborn, you would see that it is time to return. It is time to stop running from the future."
"We have been nothing but hospitable to you, mother. We have accepted you into our home and while you are here you will not needlessly upset a child." She started to say something but he spoke through her. "My future is here. Matthew and Molly are my family, and wherever they are, that is where my home will be."
"You are being foolish, talking nonsense, Mohinder."
"I do not expect your support or your acceptance, but you must understand that I love them very much. I love Molly dearly," Mohinder took a deep breath -- the momentary silence rang in Matt's ears -- then added, "And Matthew. I love him in a way… I didn't think I was capable of loving another person."
"When this infatuation passes, you will be left--"
"They are my family," Mohinder spat back, tone fierce and unforgiving. "For the rest of this visit, if you wish to stay in my home, you will respect them and you will act civilly. If you cannot do that for the remaining few days, I would suggest you book a hotel."
There was a tug on his sleeve, so Matt looked down. Looking worried, Molly whispered, "Is it okay?"
"Everything's fine." Matt grinned and scooped her into a hug. There was silence in the living room. It was the silence of two very stubborn people glaring at each other. Matt opened the door as loudly as he could and carried Molly in. "Ready to go?"
"Almost." Mohinder's smile was strained, but he looked relieved. Then he turned that strained smile on his mom. "The three of us are going out for dinner. We'll be back later."
***
Mohinder walked out the apartment tense as a block of concrete. It wasn't until the elevator doors closed behind them that he relaxed, sagging against the wall. "I can't believe I just said that to my mother," he said softly while Molly pushed a button for Mrs Ledson.
Matt glanced ahead -- Molly was busy talking to Mrs Ledson, telling her about Venus Flytraps, judging by her gestures -- then leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to the curve of Mohinder's cheekbone. "My hero."
"I don't feel very heroic," Mohinder said, teetering on the edge of freaking out. "I feel nervous and terrified. And slightly nauseous. I can't believe I said that."
"I've lived with your mom for two weeks. I know she's the face of evil and you stood up to her. For us." Matt knew he was wearing a goofy smile but he couldn't bring himself to care how goofy-in-love he looked. "In my books, that definitely makes you a hero."
Mohinder sighed. He still looked stunned and a little horrified. "She may not speak to me."
"Is that a problem?"
"Ever again," Mohinder clarified. "She may not even be there when we return."
"Mohinder?" Matt asked gently. He waited until Mohinder met his gaze before continuing, "she'll still be there."
"How can you be sure?"
"Easy. I'm not that lucky."
***
Sometimes, Matt hated being right.
When they got back, she was sitting on the couch, reading a novel. She said nothing; didn't even look up as they got in.
Mohinder carried Molly to bed without a word.
***
The war of silence continued the next day.
The whole apartment felt muffled with it, like the words Mohinder and his mom weren't saying were too loud to talk over. Matt ignored it best as he could. He focused on getting a subdued Molly to school on time, hung around the station until Lamb threatened to use him as a human dartboard if he didn't go home and then rode the Long Island ferry until it was time to pick Molly up again. But after a night of increasingly uncomfortable conversations, where Mohinder and his mom talked to Molly but not each other, he had to say something.
"You know I don't like your mom, right?" Matt asked after Mohinder came to bed.
From the darkness beside him, Mohinder said quietly, "She will only be here another few days. If you could be patient a little longer, this will be over."
"That wasn't what I meant." Matt shimmied across the bed. Mohinder was lying on his back so it was easy to loop an arm around chest and mouth a kiss to the fine skin behind his ear. "I meant that I don't like the woman, so I'm saying this for your benefit, not hers. Talk to her."
"She's the one who isn't talking to me."
"It doesn't matter. She's your mom, you don't see her often. You don't want the visit to end like this."
"I don't want to talk to her," Mohinder said quietly, hand snaking around Matt's back.
"Whatever happens, it won't be as bad as you're imagining."
"No, it could be worse."
"It won't be."
"I already know her opinion of the situation." Even in the dark, Matt could tell Mohinder was frowning. "I can't imagine her saying anything I would want to hear."
"Then don't talk about me and Molly. Just tell her that it was good to see her, that you'd missed her, but talk to her. You don't want this to end on a fight."
"Maybe I do. Maybe it's best."
"Well, I don't want it ending like this," Matt said, propping himself up on an elbow and poking Mohinder's shoulder. "It'll mess with my cunning plan."
Mohinder snorted. "Cunning plan?"
"It's a very cunning plan. It involves you taking Friday off work and spending the day with me while Molly's at school."
"As far as ulterior motives go, that's not particularly devious," Mohinder pointed out. "And I can't see how talking to my mother will have any impact on it."
"If you don't talk to her before she leaves Thursday night, you'll be moody and introspective on Friday. Personally," Matt added, before Mohinder could argue, "I'd prefer you in a better mood. And naked."
Mohinder huffed, but didn't say anything.
"Think about it," Matt said, letting it end there. He knew when to pick his battles.
***
He caught Mohinder in the bathroom the next morning. Standing in front of the mirror, Mohinder was putting the electric shaver down as Matt stepped behind him and slid two hands around his waist. "Did you think about my cunning plan?"
"Yes." Mohinder caught his gaze in the mirror, then smiled. "I'll arrange to take Friday off."
"And…?" Matt prompted.
Mohinder grimaced but leaned back against Matt's chest. "I don't want to talk to her."
"I know." Pressing a kiss against Mohinder's bare shoulder, Matt added, "But it's the right thing to do."
"That's hardly fair."
"I've seen what you'll do to protect me and Molly, what you'll do to protect anyone who needs it. I know what sort of guy you are," Matt said and Mohinder's reflection looked surprised but pleased. "I know you'd want to fix this."
"Not right now, not this morning," Mohinder stalled, placing his hands over Matt's.
"Then tonight."
"But not in front of Molly." For a moment, Mohinder looked angry, then he hid it beneath a wry smile. "I can't be sure of what my mother would say and I don't want Molly to--"
"Okay," Matt said, talking over him. "Not in front of Molly. I can take her out or we can get someone to watch her, if you want me there."
Lower lip caught between white teeth, Mohinder thought for a moment. Finally, he shook his head. "It would probably be better if it were only the two of us. You look after Molly. I'll take my mother out for dinner."
"Think of it as paving the way for the future," Matt said, giving Mohinder's hands a squeeze and then stepping away. "It's a way of showing Molly that no matter how ugly an argument gets, when it's family, you can come back on it. You want her to have that example."
Mohinder turned, looking a little amused. "Why?"
"In ten years time, we're going to have the exact same argument with her. I'd bet good money on that."
For a moment, Mohinder looked stunned. Then he started to chuckle. "Fine, tonight. Now go before you give me nightmares of our future," he said, and shooed Matt out the door.
***
In a weird way, Matt had gotten used to passing the day with Mohinder's mom in virtual silence. He didn't really notice the difference.
She still sat reading while he watched TV and sorted laundry. She still cooked her own lunch and made herself cups of tea.
The only difference was that she paused when he got himself a glass of juice from the fridge and said, "My son--" and then stopped.
Matt could have ignored her. Pretended he didn't hear and walked back to the couch. Maybe he should have, but he heard himself saying, "Yeah?"
"He can be very rash," she said, glancing down at the floor. "He will commit to an idea before he fully understands the implications and the sacrifices it will demand."
Matt blinked. One argument in every twenty-four hours was enough, so he curbed his urge to defend Mohinder's 'rash' choices. "Then I'm pretty lucky," he said instead. When Mohinder's mom looked up in surprise, he added, "In this city, it's nearly impossible to find a guy who's willing to commit."
She blinked at him in shock. Matt had a tiny moment of feeling smug.
***
Matt picked Molly up at school. He let her play with the other kids for a while and then dawdled to the pizza place on the corner.
He was secretly relieved that the apartment was empty when they got back. It meant he could turn the TV on -- cartoons, obviously -- tear the pizza box in half, and eat on the couch.
He handed Molly the box lid but she looked unimpressed. "We're supposed to eat dinner at the table."
"I won't tell if you won't."
Molly gave him a shrewd look, then took the makeshift cardboard plate. She helped herself to two slices and settled down on the couch beside Matt.
It was two commercial breaks later before she thought to ask, "Where's Mohinder?"
"He took his mom out for dinner. It's her last night here," Matt managed not to sound too gleeful at the thought, "and he wanted to spend some time with her."
"I thought they were fighting," Molly said, biting into the sliver of crust that remained of her second slice.
"You want another piece?" Matt offered and she stole the one with the most anchovies. "They weren't really fighting."
"They were arguing. And then they weren't talking."
Matt nudged her shoulder with his. "Sometimes kids and parents argue. It's not the end of the world."
"But…" Looking down, Molly picked an anchovy off her slice and popped it into her mouth. She was quiet for a while and Matt was tempted to use his powers, just a little. If it wasn't for that pesky deal he had with Mohinder -- no stupid split-second decisions about the Company, no using his powers at home without Mohinder's agreement -- he would have.
What was the point of having super-powers if he had to watch his little girl pout and pick on fish?
"What, Molly?"
She shrugged, then said, "I think they were fighting about me."
"Not exactly." Because Matt was a coward, he bit into his pizza and stalled for time as he chewed. "It was more about Mohinder than you."
"Uh-huh?"
She still looked worried, so Matt thought carefully about how to phrase it. "You know how much Mohinder likes living here?"
"In this apartment?" For a moment, she smiled. "Even though it's too small for three people and we could afford a better place and a kid should really have a yard to play in?"
Matt winced. Clearly, Molly's ears were better than he'd thought. Or she faked sleep very well. "I meant New York, but close enough. Anyway, Mohinder's mom wants him to move back to India, to live closer to her."
Molly nodded. Then she asked quietly, "Matt?"
"Yeah?"
She placed a hand on his and for a moment, he worried about what Molly would say. Carefully, as if she was scared of hurting his feelings, she said, "I don't think Mohinder's mom likes you very much."
Matt did not laugh. He might have snorted, but he didn't laugh. "Yeah, I get that impression too. But it's okay. I think Mohinder likes me enough for both of them."
Satisfied, she turned back to the cartoons. Matt concentrated on not laughing. (That could wait until he told Mohinder about this conversation.)
***
After he put Molly to bed, Matt sat on the couch until he heard footsteps outside their door. He switched the TV off and retreated to the bedroom as keys jangled in the lock.
He'd just got into bed when Mohinder came in, looking tired. "How'd it go?"
"As well as could be expected," Mohinder said, sitting on the edge of Matt's side of the bed. "We both clarified our positions, but she made it clear she thinks Mira is better suited to me."
Mohinder sighed. There was something about the way he said Mira's name that made Matt suspicious.
"Your mom invited Mira to join you?"
"How did you guess?" Mohinder asked dryly. "My mother had arranged for her to meet us there."
Pushing a hand through his hair, Matt was filled with exasperation, and a very tiny bit of admiration, for her persistence. "That woman just doesn't give up."
"I've never known her to give in without a battle." Mohinder slumped forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I'm quite sure she always had her own way. It's why I was so surprised she let my father leave for America without a fight."
Matt smoothed a hand down Mohinder's spine, thin cotton shirt warm under his palm. He wished he could make this easier. "How was the meal?"
"The food was fine. The company… it was terribly awkward. Mira used the excuse of an early flight to leave within the first hour. I stood with her while she waited for a taxi," Mohinder added suddenly. Mohinder's mouth twisted in confusion or embarrassment, Matt wasn't sure which. "Apparently, Mira thinks you're quite lovely."
Matt couldn't help himself. He snuck a quick peek inside Mohinder's head, caught the echo of the memory. 'Really, Mohinder,' he heard Mira saying fondly, 'your Matthew is quite lovely. Eventually your mother will see that too.'
Feeling a little ashamed, Matt pulled back. "Okay, fine. Mira's on the Christmas card list."
Mohinder chuckled. "My mother and I did talk. I think it's a truce. Or an agreement to disagree. But we're talking."
Grinning, Matt fought the urge to say 'I told you so,' but Mohinder read him like a book. He raised an eyebrow and said, "If it's going to stop you grinning like a Cheshire Cat, you might as well say it."
"Say what?"
"I told you so?"
"Nah." Matt reached up, hooking an arm around Mohinder's shoulders and another around his ribs, and tugged hard. Mohinder toppled across Matt's chest, reaching hands out to catch himself and landed with his face mashed against Matt's collarbone.
Mohinder pulled his head up a few inches, enough to shake his head at Matt in mock-disappointment and say, "Matthew."
"I can think of better things to tell you," Matt said softly, pressing a kiss against Mohinder's roughly stubbled cheek, just because it was there and easy to reach.
Separated by covers, by clothes, by the knowledge that tomorrow night they'd have their place back so tonight wasn't going anywhere, Mohinder still mmm'd close to Matt's ear and curled a hand under the sleeve of Matt's t-shirt. "What would you tell me?"
"That you did the right thing," Matt said, sucking a soft kiss to the corner of Mohinder's chin. "That our daughter knows your mom doesn't like me. And was worried about telling me, in case she hurt my feelings."
Barely an inch from his own face, Mohinder's raised eyebrow popped into view. "Really?"
So Matt told him word for word. This time, he let himself laugh.
***
The next night, they got to the airport two hours early. Matt had planned the route and the timing. He didn't care that they were early, as long as they made it. (There was no way in hell that woman was missing her flight and spending so much as an extra few hours in their apartment.) He'd said as much to Mohinder, who merely nodded, kissed his cheek and said, "Don't kill her before she's finished packing," and disappeared out the door.
The day hadn't been too bad. She'd packed while Matt spent most of the time waiting in the bedroom, listening to his iPod at maximum volume.
Now they were sitting at the departure gate in uncomfortable plastic chairs, surrounded by rows of identical chairs and buzzed or weary travellers, and waiting for the call to board. Matt was staring out the big glass window, watching the baggage handlers load the plane. A big black suitcase fell off the ramp, clattering to the ground; Mott hoped really, really hard it was the one that belonged to Mohinder's mom.
Beside him, the steady flow of Tamil stopped and he glanced up as Mohinder stood. "Molly wants a drink," Mohinder explained, clearly needing a break. "We will be back in a few minutes."
Matt could have glared. Instead, he looked at the clock: ninety-three minutes to go. He kept staring at the clock (ninety-one minutes) until a coolly civil, "Detective Parkman?" made him turn.
Once he'd made eye-contact, he was pretty sure he couldn't ignore her outright. "Yeah?" he asked warily, silently willing Mohinder to get back. Right now.
"I know my son and I know what is best for him," she said and Matt almost groaned in frustration. "He may refuse to acknowledge sense, but returning home would be in his best interest, just as I believe Mira would be a better match for his future."
Rubbing a hand along his jaw, Matt couldn't help checking the clock again. Still ninety minutes to go. "He doesn't agree. Neither do I."
"Eventually, he will stop being so stubborn and he will re-evaluate his priorities and come home. But until he does," she paused, glancing down and then stared him square in the eye, "take care of him."
There was no mistaking it for a request: it was an order, plain and simple. Matt knew how to respond to orders. "Yes, ma'am."
Thankfully, she fell silent until Mohinder returned.
***
When the call finally came, there were hugs for Mohinder and Molly. Matt got a terse nod and, "Please remember what we discussed." Then she was lining up, presenting her boarding pass, and disappearing down the narrow corridor as Molly waved.
"Should we go?" Mohinder asked, but Matt shook his head.
"Not until the plane takes off. I want to be certain she's gone." Mohinder stayed beside him, one hand low on his back, until the plane rumbled down the asphalt and lifted into the air. "Now we can go."
Halfway out, surrounded by busy, tired crowds, Matt remembered something. "Did I mention my mom's team won their bridge tournament?"
Mohinder shook his head, smiling a little. "I don't think so."
"The finals are being held in Manhattan and they won a place. She'll be here the last weekend this month."
The expression Mohinder turned on him was one of utter terror. "She will?"
"Don't worry," Matt said quickly. "We'll tell her we're out of town that weekend."
Mohinder's hand slipped into his. "My hero," he teased and Matt laughed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2008-03-15 05:27 am (UTC)Some of my favorite parts, without copying every single line:
--It wouldn't make Mohinder carefully ask, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" (This was a good thing since Matt wasn't sure how to say, "As far as your mom's concerned, liking cock is just another trait you share with Mira," without saying it exactly like that.)
Laughed out loud—poor Matt, but I loved how he managed to keep a sense of humor under the worst sort of pressure!
They are my family," Mohinder spat back, tone fierce and unforgiving. "For the rest of this visit, if you wish to stay in my home, you will respect them and you will act civilly. If you cannot do that for the remaining few days, I would suggest you book a hotel."
I cheered, quietly to myself here. It made me so happy that he finally stood up to her so certain assumption she knew what was best for her *grown* child. There comes a point when you need to let go, and hopefully this was the beginning for her. Though it's going to take some years, judging by what she said to Matt in the airport, lol!
The sweetest bit was Molly taking pity on Matt.
Molly nodded. Then she asked quietly, "Matt?"
"Yeah?"
She placed a hand on his and for a moment, he worried about what Molly would say. Carefully, as if she was scared of hurting his feelings, she said, "I don't think Mohinder's mom likes you very much."
Matt did not laugh. He might have snorted, but he didn't laugh. "Yeah, I get that impression too. But it's okay. I think Mohinder likes me enough for both of them."
Omgosh, that was perfect—so sweet, so real. I might have gotten a bit watery there, but when I'm not busy being evil, I'm a bit of a softy.
Sorry for the giant comment, but I really loved this story, I loved the family so much, and this was an *enormous* pleasure to read! Thank you so much!
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Date: 2008-03-15 05:44 am (UTC)Mohinder handled it all with perfect grace, even when he finally lost his temper with his mom—don't ever attack anyone's kid, no matter how sideways you go about it!
That is very, very true. If not for the attacking Molly thing, I think Mohinder would have let the other stuff slide but if there's a threat to Molly's happiness, he'll step in to defend her.
It made me so happy that he finally stood up to her so certain assumption she knew what was best for her *grown* child. There comes a point when you need to let go, and hopefully this was the beginning for her. Though it's going to take some years, judging by what she said to Matt in the airport, lol!
*laughs* Unfortunately, I think you're right. But it's a process, and at least she's *started* to give Mohinder some breathing room.
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Date: 2008-03-15 06:56 am (UTC)Oh man, so adorabl.e
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Date: 2008-03-15 08:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 08:07 am (UTC)Thank you! I think that's a big part of appeal of writing this story: the chance to explore how family can be the people that drive you absolutely insane and yet mean the world to you. And the way that family can become the people you love, not necessarily the people biologically related to you.
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Date: 2008-03-15 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 08:05 am (UTC)and should MARRY ME NOW.no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 10:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 10:39 pm (UTC)I'm so used to writing for fandom -- for people who already know enough of the background that I don't actually have to work too hard to get them to accept the story -- that it's a really nice compliment to know that this worked without that detailed knowledge.
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Date: 2008-03-15 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 10:46 pm (UTC)I swear, as much as I have absolutely no faith in marriage, in traditional families, in the idea of domestic bliss ever actually sticking around (I don't, it's true), domestic slash is my Happy Place.
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Date: 2008-03-16 07:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 10:49 pm (UTC)I do too, actually. I mean, I may not appreciate the way she acted, but I can't fault her on caring (and eventually realising that Matt can be trusted to look after Mohinder).
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Date: 2008-03-15 02:39 pm (UTC)This fic is Exibit A of why my own mom always warned me to marry an orphan. Damn, Mama Suresh really is the face of evil. (although it could be worse. Angela would have just had Matt killed once her matchmaking sceme failed.)
When she first brought in Mira I thought it was amusing and manipulative and wrong headed--that she thought Matt was secretly in love with Mohinder and wanted to nip it in the bud. When it turned out that she knew there was someting going on between the boys(silly Mo-mo foolishly jumping into falling in love and not being able to get out of it!) and chose to disregard that for her own idea of happily ever after for Mohinder I saw red.
And her telling Mohinder he shouldn't care that much for Molly. I was muttering 'Bitch, that hands off unemotional attitude is why your son is so messed up already! Chandra fucked him over royally in the parenting department and you want Mohinder to do the same thing!'
When she asked Matt if he'd ever been to college, I was like an audience member at Montel: 'Oh no she di'dnt!!!!'
So, needless to say when Mohinder finally told her off for scaring the hell out of poor Molly I cheered. Both of the boys have way more patience than I do. I would have kicked the woman out after the first week. Or in Matt's case, killed her and used my Jedi mind tricks to make people think it was an accident. But they made it throught he trial by fire and maybe in a decade or so, Ma Suresh might possibly be able to concede that Matt is kind of sort of a little bit good enough for her son. Dude, when even the ex-girlfriend approves of the current boyfriend it is time to give up.
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Date: 2008-03-15 11:27 pm (UTC)This fic is Exibit A of why my own mom always warned me to marry an orphan.
*cracks up* Your mum is clearly a wise woman. And you're right: if it was Angela, there would have been a well-timed "accident".
And her telling Mohinder he shouldn't care that much for Molly. I was muttering 'Bitch, that hands off unemotional attitude is why your son is so messed up already! Chandra fucked him over royally in the parenting department and you want Mohinder to do the same thing!'
Oh my god, yes. Mohinder and his issues. A lot of that could have been fixed with more hugs in his childhood.
However, I think it's believable that someone who looks at her own son and thinks very well of him (and I have no doubt that she thinks the world of Mohinder, his willingness to commit notwithstanding) and who complicitly agreed with Chandra keeping Mohinder at a distance (without telling him why until after Chandra's death), probably doesn't see anything wrong with that style of "independent" parenting.
Matt, on the other hand, is definitely a hands-on, round-the-clock, whatever-Molly-needs kind of parent (and kind of partner, I suspect). And Mohinder only needs the slightest of encouragements to be that type of parent as well.
When she asked Matt if he'd ever been to college, I was like an audience member at Montel: 'Oh no she di'dnt!!!!'
Hee! You know, I'm imagining that with a head-flick and a quck snap of the fingers.
But they made it throught he trial by fire and maybe in a decade or so, Ma Suresh might possibly be able to concede that Matt is kind of sort of a little bit good enough for her son.
Well, I think she trusts Matt to look out for Mohinder by the end of it, and that's a big step forward.
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Date: 2008-03-15 02:43 pm (UTC)and this? "A Kevlar vest attacked you with a baseball bat?" *loves Mohinder and his dry smart ass ways*
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Date: 2008-03-15 10:28 pm (UTC)*loves Mohinder and his dry smart ass ways*
Oh, Mohinder and his sarcasm are fantastic things!
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Date: 2008-03-15 04:23 pm (UTC)So, in the interest of saving space on the internet:
Your characterization of Matt is so spot on, Mrs. Dr. Suresh is *sososososososo* scary, their neighbor rocks, I feel almost kind of bad for Mira, she did what every other person in this fandom has done and fallen in love with totally gay Mohinder, and poor Molly!
You=awesome. Have some chocolate or something, you deserve it.
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Date: 2008-03-15 10:51 pm (UTC)I feel almost kind of bad for Mira, she did what every other person in this fandom has done and fallen in love with totally gay Mohinder
Mira's a good sort. She wasn't to know that Mama Suresh was interfering. (And, yeah, anyone who can actually support thier ex in a new relationship... is a much, much better person than I am.)
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Date: 2008-03-15 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 11:06 pm (UTC)Heh. That is somewhat true. And possibly I whitewashed Mira a little, but with Mama Suresh, I needed a balancing point -- an outside threat that actually wasn't a threat to the couple -- and that was Mira's job. Mind you, the other possibility is that even when Mama Suresh is being "supportive" of a relationship, she could still be the Mother-In-Law from Hell and that Mira never really got on with her that well (so she'll support Mohinder partly because she likes Mohinder and partly because she doesn't want Mama Suresh to ride roughshod over another relationship).
Or is gay themselves.
Huh. You know, we see very little of Mira so that could be possible. (And if it were, I would totally hit that.)
But as we can see, I didn't spend too much time thinking through Mira's POV.
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Date: 2008-03-15 11:15 pm (UTC)Actually, the "we're both gay but still having a perfectly heterosexual marriage" idea is biting me. From what I here in Gov (which is normally very skewed) such arriangements are actually fairly common in countries in the Arabian Pennisula, so I can sort of buy the two of them agreeing to that.
Don't owrry about whitewashing Mira, after Mama Suresh, the story needed it.
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Date: 2008-03-15 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-15 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-16 03:45 am (UTC)I especially like how Matt and Mohinder's relationship played it. It was subtly affectionate, just enough to make you go "awww" without going overboard.
This was great! Now I think you should do "Matt's Mom". Just a thought. :D
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Date: 2008-03-16 03:58 am (UTC)Thank you! Affectionate and domestic are two things I adore.
Now I think you should do "Matt's Mom".
I think I'm happy enough to leave Matt's mom far out of this. *laughs*
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Date: 2008-03-16 04:00 am (UTC)<3<3<3
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Date: 2008-03-16 04:09 am (UTC)*BEAMS* Thank you!
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Date: 2008-03-16 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-16 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-16 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-17 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-17 04:54 am (UTC)Mama Suresh seemed perfectly believable and outrageous at the same time, which is a pretty damn fine line to walk. There were so many things she did that made me cringe in sympathy.
This last chapter was especially wonderful. I loved the arc that ended with Matt being shot again, and his reaction to it. His subsequent conversation with Molly especially.
Also, thank you SO MUCH for never stepping over the line into the melodrama camp with this. Like I said, you win the internets.
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Date: 2008-03-17 08:21 pm (UTC)Hee! And thank you!
Mama Suresh seemed perfectly believable and outrageous at the same time, which is a pretty damn fine line to walk.
*beams* I think that was the hardest part: to keep the story close to "realism" so I'm really glad it never hit the melodrama point for you.
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Date: 2008-03-18 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-14 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-12 10:38 pm (UTC)And here's why Matt's actually not such a mismatch for Mohinder after all:
"Then I'm pretty lucky," he said instead. When Mohinder's mom looked up in surprise, he added, "In this city, it's nearly impossible to find a guy who's willing to commit."
That made me a laugh a lot.
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Date: 2008-04-14 07:50 am (UTC)I'm so glad! As much as it's all about why they're a family -- because all three of them will defend and comfort each other as needed -- it's also a simple comedy and should provoke a giggle or two.
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Date: 2008-07-01 12:49 am (UTC)I found it on the M3 Masterlist and read it all in one sitting. You are such a wonderful writer - I really felt like I was watching the show, it was so in-character and realistic. I think the scene where Matt wakes up after being shot at, and Mohinder's stayed up reading and watching him... just went straight to my heart. That's one of the best MattMo scenes I've ever read, and it works so well because of everything that's come before it - because their relationship has been so well-explored, and is so in-character, that it doesn't just feel like fluff, it feels... real.
Also, I like that Mohinder's mom didn't come off like a total psycho. Believe it or not my dad's stepmom is much, MUCH worse, like just pointlessly makes people feel like crap. In fact my parents have a running bet whenever we go to her house, that whoever she insults first gets ten bucks, and sometimes we know the winner before the door is closed. Anyway, point being that Mohinder's mom is kind of manipulative and hardcore, but I can see where she's coming from. Her first kid died, her husband's gone, and now Matt's keeping her only remaining child halfway around the world. Honestly, I'd be a little short on patience too. From that perspective it makes sense that she'd shove Mohinder and Mira together so desperately, and that realism makes her so frustrating - you know, that's how loved ones are, you usually know what's motivating the actions that piss you off so much.
That said, when Mohinder finally tells her off, that was SUCH a Hell Yeah moment.
Anyway, to reiterate... I LOVED THIS STORY.
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Date: 2008-07-01 06:49 am (UTC)Thank you! That's so lovely to hear!
you know, that's how loved ones are, you usually know what's motivating the actions that piss you off so much.
So true!
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Date: 2008-12-11 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-12 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-14 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-14 11:16 pm (UTC)