HSM/Heroes: They Say That a Hero Can Save Us 4/5
Fandom: High School Musical/Heroes - yeah, I went there.
Pairing: Ryan/Chad, Troy/Gabriella
Rating: NC-17 total, this part NC-17
Word Count: ~ 32,000 total, this part 7,269
Warnings: Spoilers for the season finale of Heroes as well as major ideas/characters in season two. This fic contains slash, crass language, sexual content, plausible science, and hardcore crack.
Author's Note: This fic diverges from Heroes canon after Run! And takes place the fall semester after HSM2.
Chad is on the basketball, the baseball, and the track and field team according to HSM2. However, that makes no sense because both baseball and track are spring sports, unless it’s indoor track which is a winter sport - like basketball. So therefore, in this universe, Chad runs cross country, a fall sport (even if he isn’t built like a long-distance runner - I’d say his event would be the 400 or even the 800). And Ryan does have a rubber ducky key chain - check out the scene when Taylor and Gabriella pick him up to go to the baseball game. Adorable! Also, I really like Taylor… I have no idea why she’s not in this fic except for a few passing mentions. Huh.
Beta-ed by the ever amazing saekokato, so the remaining errors are my own because I couldn’t stop tinkering with this fic.
Disclaimer: HSM belongs to Ortega and Disney, and Heroes belongs to Kring and NBC. There are references to several other sources including Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Miss Congeniality, Finding Nemo, and fics written by other people. I take no credit for those ideas.
Disclaimer 2: I do not condone the use of any conjugation of the verb “to get” in place of any conjugation of the verb “to be.”
Summary: He couldn’t remember if he was indestructible because he was gay or gay because he was indestructible.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Sharpay dropped them off in front of the bus station and didn’t even wait for them to enter the building before she took off.
“That was almost nice of her,” Chad remarked.
Ryan hummed in agreement. “Let me handle the ticket thing.”
“Sure, man.” After all, Ryan was the one who had the money.
Nine hours later they were in Denver, and Chad had a major crick in his neck from sleeping upright. Ryan had slept with his head on Chad’s lap and his legs across the aisle, so he woke up relaxed, unlike Chad who vowed retribution. Which would probably consist of him sleeping in the backseat of whatever car they chose while Ryan drove.
The car rental place was indeed open when they arrived. Chad decided that Ryan should be in charge of that process… mostly because neither of them were old enough to rent a car, and Ryan could convince anyone that they were old enough and that they should have an awesome car without giving a credit car number.
From what Chad could tell, Ryan charmed the girl behind the counter, and that was it. There were no arguments or calls to the authorities. Ryan just walked away with a set of keys and a devious smile.
“What car do we have?” Chas asked as they wandered the parking lot.
“Viper,” Ryan shrugged.
“A Viper!?”
“Well, the Roadster was out.”
“We’re gonna drive a Viper cross country?”
“Yeah. Did you want a Ferrari instead?”
“A Ferrari?! Seriously? That was an option?”
“No,” Ryan chortled.
“Oh.”
“Wait until you see this car, though.” Ryan winked and pointed.
He pointed to a brand, shiny new Viper Convertible. It was a brick red, and Chad was in love… he didn’t know if it was with the car or the person who chose the car, so he went with the car.
Chad ran his fingers along the hood with a dreamy expression on his face.
“Do you two need a moment alone?” Ryan asked with an amused smile.
Chad snapped out of his daze. “If we had sex in that car, it would be like a threesome.”
Ryan choked. “Excuse me?”
“You saying you don’t want sex in the Viper?” Chad raised his eyebrows.
“That wasn’t my first choice, no.”
“Really? I - oh!” Realization dawned on him.
Ryan popped the trunk. “C’mon, we need to find a pawn shop and then hit the road.”
* - * - *
The pawn shop was closed when they arrived and not set to open for another hour, so they went to a diner for breakfast. Chad really enjoyed the idea of bottomless pockets, especially when those pockets weren’t his.
He was on his third plate of homefries when Ryan announced that they needed to leave.
Chad gave him a confused look through a mouthful of potatoes.
“Trust me, we need to go.” He threw a twenty down on the table and grabbed Chad by the arm. “Now.”
Chad barely had time to collect his thoughts before Ryan shoved him into the Viper, and they were off.
“What the hell was that?” Chad demanded.
“That was us leaving before one of the many government officials in that diner recognized me.”
“Government officials,” Chad repeated inanely.
“Yes.”
“Why? It’s Denver, not D.C.!”
“There’s an air force base in Colorado Springs. They were on leave.”
“Um… I don’t know if I’m gonna like the answer to this, but why would they recognize you?”
“My parents.”
“Uh-huh. But what does that mean?”
“You’re not going to like the answer, so I’m not going to answer that.”
“Now I want to know.” Chad crossed his arms over his chest petulantly.
“Don’t act like a child.” Ryan pulled up in front of a pawn shop. “Now it’s time for me to earn my keep.”
Through the sideview mirror, Chad watched Ryan sort through a bag in the trunk.
“Are you coming?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chad jumped out of the car and joined Ryan as he swaggered into the pawn shop. Chad wanted to watch Ryan haggle.
The girl behind the counter eyed them warily as she popped her gum.
Ryan smiled his most dazzling at her. “Hi. We need some fast cash. Do you appraise?”
“Yeah,” she said. “What’d’a ya got?”
He dug a few items out of his pocket and dumped them on the counter in front of her. It was all jewelry. Chad recognized some of them as belonging to Sharpay, except they weren’t gold when she owned them. In fact, Chad had a suspicion that they were once plastic.
“They were,” Ryan answered in his head. Out loud he said, “They’re all 24 karat.”
The girl inspected them carefully with her eyes and then with her hands, testing for malleability, Chad assumed, and finally weighed them. “I can give you twenty-five hundred.”
“Make it thirty,” Ryan said. His voice was deep and commanding and gave Chad shivers.
“Sure. I need to open the safe in the back. Give me a sec.”
When she left the room, Chad asked, “Did you go Jedi Mind Trick on her?”
Ryan blinked. “I think I just did.”
“Cool.”
She returned and handed Ryan three thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills.
“Thanks, Kelly,” Ryan said with a charming grin.
“Do I know you?” she asked, frowning.
“No,” Ryan answered. “We’re not the droids you’re looking for.”
Chad looked to Ryan in awe. “I think I kinda love you,” he blurted.
The girl was beyond confused.
“Have a nice day,” Ryan said amiably as he shoved Chad out the door.
When they were safely in the Viper, Ryan was excited. “I was only expecting two thousand.”
“I have never seen so much money,” Chad said naively.
“You get half of it. Well, it’s ours.” Ryan shoved the money into his pocket and pulled onto the street. “Let’s get out of the city before we put it in the trunk.”
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“I want to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska tonight.”
“How far away is that?”
“About six or seven hours.”
“Cool.”
They lapsed into a silence that was broken when Chad announced his need for a bathroom.
Ryan pulled into an empty rest stop along I76, and Chad bounded into the bathroom.
Ryan was leaning a hip against the car when Chad returned.
“Uh, hi?” Chad ventured as his mind slid into the gutter. He intensively watched Ryan’s hips wondering how many ways those hips moved and the extent of Ryan’s flexibility. He had seen Ryan’s hips move when dancing, and…
“Hey,” he said in a sultry voice.
“Uh,” Chad repeated.
Ryan smiled at him coyly.
“I thought we needed to go to New York, you know, quickly.”
“You did want a threesome with the car.”
“Now?” Chad squeaked.
“Why not?”
“Uh - I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I kinda want to do this properly. I mean, we’ve done this in, like, well… those other times, and I… want to do this properly,” he repeated resolutely.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Dude!” Chad protested. “I really want to - Ack! If New York doesn’t explode, let’s go home on 66. It’s warmer than here.”
Ryan smiled at him. Something in Chad melted, and he practically mauled Ryan, pressing him against the hood of the car. Chad sucked Ryan’s bottom lip into his mouth as he planted his hands firmly on the hood of the Viper, his elbows locking Ryan’s waist in place. Ryan’s hat fell back onto the hood of the car.
Ryan groaned appreciatively as Chad’s hips bore down on his, and he growled in bereft when Chad sprang off of him as another car pulled into the rest stop.
“Not the exhibitionist type?” Ryan teased as he put his hat back on.
Chad shook his head slowly, and all he could think about was how red and swollen Ryan’s lips were and how Chad had done that to them, and he damn well wanted to do it again.
“You’ll have your chance,” Ryan assured him. “We have all eternity.”
Chad stared at him blankly.
“Would you like to drive?” Ryan held out the key.
Chad’s eyes grew wide, and he stared to salivate. “Really?” he choked out, grabbing the keys before Ryan could change his mind.
“Yeah. Just don’t wet the seats.”
“I won’t. I already took care of that.” Chad smirked at Ryan as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Charming.”
* - * - *
The conversation went from nonexistent to Chad being paranoid about what Ryan picked up from his thoughts. He didn’t know how to talk to Ryan. Well, he knew how, he just didn’t know how to go about it. Ryan confused him. He was sexy as hell, and his pouty lips made Chad think of all sorts of inappropriate things. But inappropriate things didn’t stimulate conversation.
It wasn’t fair that Ryan knew everything about Chad, even those things that he didn’t want anyone to know, but Chad knew next to nothing about Ryan - other the obvious. How did someone bring up something like that?
Of course, Ryan heard that, so that would be as good an introduction as any. Except that Ryan was shy… at least what Chad categorized as shy. He compared Ryan’s personality to Sharpay’s, so he wasn’t exactly shy, just overshadowed by his sister.
“Do you remember Peter Pan?” Ryan asked abruptly.
“Never Never Land? Like that Peter Pan?”
Ryan nodded. “Peter Pan loses his shadow when it’s shut in a window and has a heck of a time trying to get it to do what he wants. And once he catches it again, Wendy has to sew it onto him.”
“I don’t get what you’re saying. Your metaphor or whatever you’re going for.”
“When Wendy sews it on him, he takes all the credit for reuniting his shadow and his body. And life goes on as usual before the shadow rebelled.”
“You’re saying Sharpay is Peter Pan?” Chad gaped at him.
Ryan nodded. “Sharpay is Peter Pan, in all of his boastful glory.”
“And you’re the shadow?”
Ryan nodded again.
“So that’s what you were talking about when she said that stuff the other day?”
“Sharpay rarely lies.”
“That’s a depressing thought.”
“How so?”
“It’s just… You’re in my head, you know.”
Ryan shrugged. “You were the one craving conversation.”
“Among other things,” Chad muttered.
Ryan cleared his throat. “Yes, well.”
“I think we should address the sexual tension between us,” Chad announced resolutely.
Ryan smirked. “You’ve been working on that line since we were in the bus station in Albuquerque.”
“So?”
“It still needs work.”
“Will we?”
“We will.”
“Before I explode?”
“Peter is the one who’s going to explode.”
“Different kind.”
“I don’t know: Peter is hot.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If you’re into that kinda thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“The - well, he - the last time I saw him he had horrible emo hair.”
“Sounds dreamy,” Chad appraised dryly.
“His brother Nathan is hotter.”
“Hotter than me?”
“There’s no need to be insecure. Nathan’s married and has two boys.”
“Wait. How old is Peter?”
“About thirty or so.”
“And Nathan?”
“Dunno. Almost forty.”
“You go for the older guys?”
“You take one look at Nathan and tell me he’s not hot.”
“Is this something like how every woman alive finds Sean Connery sexy?”
“Something like that,” Ryan laughed.
“Tell me more about those brothers.”
“They’re very Italian, which is their word for handsy.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’re a step away from incest.”
“Ew!”
“They are very tactile.”
“Oh.”
“Nathan’s running for Congress. Peter, last I heard, was a hospice nurse.”
“A hospice nurse?”
“He wants to save the world.”
“One old person at a time?”
“He’s always been odd.”
“And now he’s saving a cheerleader.”
“That’s what he told Mohinder.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Suresh.”
“Oh.”
Chad stared out the window. Somewhere in the past few hours, the mountains had turned to corn fields. The whole scenario was… surreal. The whole thing was so completely surreal. He was on a highway heading east through Nebraska with Ryan Evans to stop New York City from exploding, because both he and Ryan were indestructible. While his friends were in New Mexico wondering where the hell they had gone, there was a psycho out there killing people like him, there were people out there kidnapping people like him, and Ryan Evans could read his mind.
“Let’s stop at the next rest stop. I need to stretch my legs.”
“Sure, we need gas anyway.”
Chad pulled the next gas station. Ryan jumped out of the car as soon as Chad put it into neural and pulled the parking brake.
“I’ll handle paying for gas,” he announced on his way out.
“I’ll just… fill the car,” Chad said dejectedly as he watched Ryan trot off inside, probably to the bathroom.
The tank topped off as Ryan returned.
“I already paid,” he stated.
“Cool.”
“I needed to stretch my wings.” Ryan spread his arms out and spun in a graceful circle.
“Your wings?”
“Yes. Should I grab some junk food too?”
“I’ve only been craving beef jerky for the past hour!” Chad enthused.
“I know,” Ryan smirked at him.
“Are we going to go the rest of eternity with you being all superior about being able to read my mind?”
“Among other things, yes.”
“Great,” Chad scoffed.
“Don’t worry, baby,” Ryan cooed sarcastically as he cupped Chad’s face. “I’ll make you an honest man.”
“What’re you talking - You know, never mind.”
Ryan leaned close and gave Chad a peck on the lips. “You’re gorgeous when you’re confused.”
Chad’s mind took a moment to catch up before he gloated. “You think I’m gorgeous,” he said in a sing-song voice. “You want to kiss me. You want to hug me. You want to love me - ”
“Chad,” Ryan interrupted firmly. “We need to head out. You can quote chick flicks in the car.”
“Hey! You’d have to have seen it to know - ”
“Chad,” Ryan repeated.
“What?”
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain in the car. Let me drive.”
“Um… sure.” Chad handed Ryan the keys.
A mile down the road, Ryan said, “It gave me a headache.”
“What did?”
“I spent hours with just your head, and then there were other people…”
“I think you should know that we’re going to a huge city. There are a lot more than two people there.”
“I’m well aware.”
Chad suppressed a snort when Ryan jutted his chin out petulantly. “Is that all? I mean, you kinda freaked.”
Ryan hmphed, and it reminded Chad of Sharpay when she didn’t get what she wanted.
“Well?” Chad pressed.
“The man tending the station was going to put a bullet through your skull.”
“What!?”
“Welcome to the rural Midwest. It’s not as understanding as the city or even the suburbs.”
“So he saw us macking and wanted to kill me?”
“Us, technically.”
“That sucks. But you realize, I’d mend. We both would.”
“Not if he hit a certain part, like what Mohinder said.”
“I didn’t know you cared,” Chad teased, placing a hand on Ryan’s thigh.
Ryan scoffed. “Cut that out.”
“Hey now, no fair. You can touch me and make me all hot and bothered, but I can’t do the same to you?”
“No,” Ryan said tersely. “You can’t. Not while I’m driving.”
They passed a sign that announced the distance to Lincoln: 100 miles.
Chad groaned. “Do we have to stop in Lincoln?”
“We could go all the way to Omaha or even Des Moines if you’d prefer.”
“Don’t be cocky with me.”
Ryan purred at him.
“Oh!” Chad protested. “Oh, come on!”
“No,” Ryan stated again. “We’ll be in Lincoln in about an hour and a half. And half an hour after than I will have you pinned to a mattress, don’t worry.” Chad released a raspy breath. “Now shut up and let me drive.”
Chad sulked and thought dirty things at Ryan. By the time they entered the Lincoln city limits, Ryan’s knuckles were white as he desperately clung to the steering wheel, and his breath was short.
Ryan seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go, Chad observed. They zigzagged all over Lincoln before turning into a parking lot by a nice looking house. The sign outside proclaimed it to be The Rogers House Bed and Breakfast Inn.
“Is this where we’re staying for the night?” Chad asked as Ryan hopped out of the car.
“Yup, grab your bag.”
“Thank God,” Chad breathed and nearly stumbled in his haste to catch up with Ryan.
They entered the house, and Chad took the whole thing in with wonder as Ryan spoke with the girl at the front desk. It was a quaint old house, a historical landmark if the promotional paraphernalia were any indication. This was the kind of place Chad’s mother would enjoy.
“Chad!” Ryan called. “C’mon.” Ryan motioned for Chad to join him at the desk.
“Here are your keys,” the girl announced handing Ryan and Chad a key each. “Are you sure you don’t want a cot rolled in?”
“Quite sure,” Chad said quickly.
She smiled at them. “Breakfast will be delivered to your room at 9 tomorrow morning. Have fun antiquing!”
Ryan smiled back. “We will.”
He led Chad up a stairwell. “What the hell was she talking about?”
“Antiquing is a… well, it’s a euphemism for being gay.”
“She knew we were gay!”
“Calm down. We are staying in a room that is pretty much the honeymoon suite. She didn’t have to think too hard to come to conclusions.”
“Honeymoon suite?” Chad squeaked.
“Yeah, the Banker’s Suite.”
“That doesn’t sound romantic… I can’t believe I said that.” Chad made a face.
“It has a jacuzzi for two.”
“Seriously?”
They came to a stop in front of a giant oak door. Chad stared at it.
“Well, are you going to open it up?”
“Oh!” Chad fumbled with the key until he was able to open the door.
He and Ryan stepped in and locked the door behind them. They dropped their bags in the entrance way.
“Whoa,” Chad whispered, taking in the suite. It was huge and just as quaint as the rest of the place. There was a queen-sized bed, a couple of couches, a freaking fireplace, some weird greenhouse-sun room, and a giant jacuzzi.
Ryan hummed in agreement.
“I thought we would be staying in motels, but this is way better.”
“You thought I would stay at a motel?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“Well, I suppose not.”
Ryan hummed again before tackling Chad to the couch in front of the fire.
Chad released a very undignified squawk, and Ryan growled against his mouth, “I’ve been waiting all fucking day for this.”
“Did you just say “fuck”?” Chad gasped.
“Yes, now shut up.” Ryan nipped a trail down Chad’s neck for emphasis. “There are other things you could be doing.”
Chad could not agree more. He was underneath Ryan, which meant that Ryan had gravity working against him. Chad took advantage of this by gyrating his hips in an obscene mockery of one of Ryan’s dance routines. He tossed Ryan’s hat off of his head and wrapped his hands around Ryan’s waist, and they came to a rest on Ryan’s butt. He squeezed and pulled Ryan’s hips towards him.
Ryan growled again, bringing one hand up underneath the back of Chad’s form-fitting t-shirt and the other tracing along the inside of the elastic on Chad’s boxers. Ryan’s hips pressed down onto Chad’s, and he bit and licked at a certain point on Chad’s neck that caused a severe reaction from Chad including a loud, throaty groan and a pronounced shudder.
Chad had to put every effort into willing himself to not come in his pants. He cursed his lack of stamina but blamed a lack of practice with another body - okay, no practice at all with another body except for those three times with Ryan - and the fact that his and Ryan’s foreplay had lasted days.
“You come in your pants and I will lick you clean,” Ryan murmured into Chad’s mouth.
Chad came instantly with a silent cry and a violent shudder. “You’d better make good on your promise,” he said breathlessly.
Ryan smirked at him as his long fingers began to unbutton and unzip Chad’s jeans. Very slowly. Antagonizingly slowly.
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called an antagonist.”
“Are you always this much of smart ass?”
Ryan didn’t answer. He slipped a hand inside the “v” of the open zipper and the slit in the boxers and cupped Chad, squeezing lightly before he removed his hand and leaned back onto his haunches.
Chad propped himself up on his elbows and watched Ryan in confusion. Ryan sucked his fingers into his mouth and made a show of licking them clean. Chad’s mind shorted out when Ryan started humming appraisingly.
“You eat a lot of bananas,” he said around his fingers.
“Was that some sort of euphemism?” Chad attempted to say but couldn’t force out all the words. Ryan heard it in his mind anyway.
“No, it means that your come tastes sweet.”
Chad grunted and wriggled his hips as the uncomfortable feeling of sticky boxers settled over him.
In one swift movement, Ryan removed Chad’s boxers and jeans so they pooled around his thighs. Chad was still hard and squirmed, writhing unattractively as Ryan licked him clean. He was moving antagonizingly slowly again, and the heat of Ryan’s mouth on him and the cool of where said mouth had been was one of the most amazing and intense feelings Chad had ever experienced.
“It gets better.” Ryan’s voice sent glorious vibrations against his upper thighs.
Chad almost whited out when Ryan swallowed him whole, no preamble, just the tip of his cock hitting the back of Ryan’s throat.
He let out a keening whine. There was too much stimulation. It was so much so quickly. And Ryan was pinning his legs down, and Chad desperately wanted to thrust up into Ryan’s wet mouth.
Ryan started to hum, and Chad lost it. He thrashed his head side to side, his curls obscuring his face, sticking in places to the sweat that had formed on his forehead, as his hands dug into Ryan’s shoulders.
He was going to come again. Chad’s stomach muscles quivered as he tried to control himself. One of Ryan’s hands wound around Chad’s back when he had arched up. The hand traced the curve of Chad’s butt.
Ryan had another hand. Chad knew this, but he still jumped when it came to rest on his balls. Ryan palmed and massaged Chad’s balls until they drew up. Ryan stopped humming and drew back so that only the tip of Chad’s cock was in his mouth. He stuck his tongue in the slit, and Chad came again, clawing at Ryan’s back.
Chad thumped his head back down on the couch. Ryan didn’t come, he noted. He also noted the bulge in Ryan’s powder blue pants. Chad would never admit that he was intimidated, but he had no idea what to do. Well, he knew what to do; he just didn’t know what he would feel comfortable doing.
He thought back to the locker room at Lava Springs where he and Ryan fooled around for one of the first few times and the Bolton’s laundry room… and the bathroom at homecoming. It had mostly been Ryan as the aggressor, but Chad had no problem reaching into Ryan’s pants then, so he did it again, but Ryan stopped him with a tight hand around Chad’s wrist.
“Let me remove my pants first.” Ryan untangled himself from Chad, shimmied out of his pants, and tossed them onto the bed.
“All this time you haven’t been wearing underwear?!” Chad wailed.
Ryan smirked as he climbed back onto Chad who ran his hands up Ryan’s thighs. His hands reunited at the junction of Ryan’s legs, and he attempted to remember what Ryan had liked that first time.
“Be creative,” Ryan suggested as his breath grew labored.
Chad took Ryan’s advice and attempted to recreate what he did when he was by himself with Ryan. Unfortunately, all of the actions were the mirror image of what Chad was accustomed to, which led to awkward hand movements with no rhythm. He continued with clunky, uncomfortable motions until Ryan’s hand joined his, and they continued together.
Ryan demonstrated exactly what he was craving, and Chad watched in fascination as their fingers entwined over Ryan’s cock. It was weird but in a good way.
It didn’t take long for Ryan to come. Their combined hands caught most of what Ryan released, and Ryan brought their hands up to his lips, licking his and Chad’s hand clean.
“You have this really weird oral fixation,” Chad pointed out.
“Are you complaining?” Ryan raised an eyebrow at Chad as he removed all digits from his mouth.
“No!”
“Good. Now rest up, because I intend to christen every surface in this suite, including that jacuzzi.”
Ryan climbed off Chad and peeled off his shirt. Now completely naked, Ryan wandered into the bathroom to wash up. Chad would catch up with him in a moment - as soon as he caught his breath and convinced his heart rate that he had not just run a marathon.
* - * - *
Someone very evil was knocking on the door.
Chad glanced at the clock on the night stand. Well, he would have, but there was a very naked blond sprawled out on top of him, and he couldn’t move at all. Chad very carefully maneuvered so that Ryan no longer was on top of him and reluctantly crawled out of the warm bed.
He had some forethought to grab a pair of jeans and put them on before he answered the door, which was good. He really didn’t want the man delivering their breakfast to know every detail of his anatomy.
“Thanks,” he said in a hoarse voice. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to tip the man, but he was saved when Ryan showed up with a generous tip.
Ryan took the tray of food to the table in the sun room. Chad followed like a puppy. There were eggs, French toast, homefries, and orange juice, and Chad was starving.
He dug in enthusiastically.
“Some of this is for me,” Ryan reminded him.
“Right. You can have the maple syrup.”
Ryan’s grin reminded Chad of the Grinch’s when he conceived the idea to steal Christmas from the Whos. It made him uneasy as an intense feeling of foreboding settled over him.
“What?”
“I wouldn’t put the syrup on the French toast.”
Chad almost dropped his forkful of eggs. “We do need to leave some time today,” he said haltingly.
“No. I booked this room for two nights,” Ryan shrugged.
“What?! Why?”
Ryan grinned at Chad. “We still haven’t christened anything in this room,” he said with feigned innocence.
“What?! Oh! You’re - you’re evil! But shouldn’t we, uh, get to New York as soon as possible?” Chad protested feebly. Apparently their actions last night did not release all of the sexual tension in Ryan like it had for Chad. Not that Chad was averse to ever having sex with Ryan again. He just felt that stopping New York from exploding was a little higher up there in his priorities. No offence to Ryan or anything, but New York had two weeks, and he and Ryan had all eternity.
“New York will be fine for another day.”
“Are you sure?”
Ryan projected an image that made Chad’s knees buckle.
“That is cheating.”
“An Evans will do anything to get his way. Are you complaining?”
“Only about - You know what? Never mind.”
Ryan grabbed Chad’s fork and put it down on the table before he clutched Chad’s hand and dragged him over to their bed.
Chad made a small, startled noise, but he allowed himself to be dragged.
* - * - *
Chad tried to massage the ache from his jaw as Ryan navigated them back onto I80 as he hummed some tune Chad vaguely recognized.
“Where’s our next stop?” Chad asked.
“South Bend, Indiana. An Irish Bed and Breakfast called Innisfree, in a suite named after Yates.”
“How far away is that?”
“About ten hours.”
“Seriously? Well, I guess that explains why we left so early.”
“Yeah. Do you think you can make it that long?”
“Yeah. It’ll take that long for my jaw to recover.”
Ryan grinned at him. “We can stop in Chicago for a late lunch, and be in South Bend by early evening.”
They passed a mile marker sign for Omaha.
“But first can we stop in Omaha for junk food? I still want some beef jerky.”
“We can.”
“Where are we going after South Bend?”
“Pittsburgh, then New York.”
“How far away is Pittsburgh from New York?”
“Six hours.”
“So we’ll be in New York in about three days?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
“Does that fit into your busy schedule?” Ryan asked condescendingly.
“Hey now. There’s no need to be all testy. Especially after the past thirty-six hours.”
“I’m fine,” he said shortly.
“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I did.” Chad frowned in thought. He didn’t remember anything that he thought or said that would be considered offensive in any context. Ryan was grinning at him a moment ago. It was like some switch had been flipped, and Chad was exposed to the nasty side of Ryan’s personality. It sorta reminded him of Sharpay, and that was a freaky thought.
“No,” Ryan sighed. “It’s… I’m not sure how to explain it.”
“We have ten hours with nothing better to do. Why don’t you at least try? I can’t just reach into your head and take it.”
“It’s…” Ryan groped for the right word. “It’s like I’m not completely in control of my body’s responses.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like someone else other than me is controlling me.”
“Are you talking about God or something?”
“No!” Ryan said tersely. “Nothing biblical, just… I don’t know. It’s this weird feeling that I’m not in control of me.”
“Huh.” That would explain Ryan’s crazy mood swings, but it didn’t explain the how.
“Can we not talk about it now?” Ryan begged.
“Uh, sure. No problem.” Chad gave Ryan a concerned look and then looked out the window.
* - * - *
“Where are we going when we get to New York?” Chad asked, prompted by a sign informing them that New York was 75 miles in front of them.
“We’re going to find Peter Petrelli.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Oh. That’s not very helpful.” Chad thought for a moment. “What about that artist that paints the future?”
“What about him?”
“Wouldn’t he know what’s going on?”
“He might but I don’t know where he lives either.”
“Oh. Uh, never mind, then.”
“No, it was a good point. Isaac Mendez would have a greater insight into the whole situation than Peter.”
“Isaac’s the artist?”
“Yeah.”
“What about Dr. Suresh? He obviously knows Peter.”
Ryan thought on it. “Let’s start with Mohinder. I think I can remember where he lives.”
“You know where he lives?”
“I was in his mind.”
“So even if I’m not thinking about something if I know it, you can still know it?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh God. That is - I’m doomed.”
“You’re not doomed. Don’t be so melodramatic. You simply won’t be able to keep a secret from me.”
“Great,” Chad muttered darkly. “Wait! Is that why you’ve known exactly where we were going and never needed a map or to ask for directions?”
Ryan laughed. “It took you five days to think to ask that. Yes, that’s why.”
“What are you gonna do when we’re in the city and there are millions of people around?”
“I’m going to focus on you,” Ryan said with feigned sweetness.
Chad rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
* - * - *
Chad knocked on Dr. Suresh’s door for the fifth time.
“Are you sure he’s there?”
“Yeah. He’s there.”
“Dr. Suresh!” Chad bellowed. “Why isn’t he answering the door?” he asked Ryan.
“He’s scared?” Ryan furrowed his brow.
“Why would he be scared of us?”
“He’s not scared of us. He’s scared of - Sylar.”
“Sylar? Dr. Suresh! It’s Chad and Ryan!” Chad banged on the door again. “From New Mexico!”
“He’s coming!” Ryan announced giddily.
The door opened slowly.
“Come in quickly,” Dr. Suresh hissed.
The door was triple locked behind them.
Chad took in Dr. Suresh’s apartment. It was a mess, a complete mess. It looked like a tornado had torn through.
“A serial killer did,” Ryan projected.
Oh… Oh! That was why Dr. Suresh looked like he hadn’t slept in years.
“What brings you boys to New York?” he asked. He sounded exhausted.
“We’re looking for Peter Petrelli,” Ryan said.
Dr. Suresh looked remorseful. “Peter Petrelli is dead.”
“What?! He can’t be dead - he’s going to - That’s not possible!” Chad declared.
“He’s dead,” Dr. Suresh asserted. “Sylar killed him.”
“So Sylar can do what Peter could?” Ryan asked.
“No.” He paused. “Peter’s body is with his mother and brother.”
“Thank you, Mohinder,” Ryan said quickly before Chad could open his mouth. “Chad and I will be going now. Good luck with Molly.”
“Who’s Molly?” Chad asked as Ryan shoved him out the door.
“She’s a girl with the Shanti virus,” Ryan explained as they climbed into the Viper. “Mohinder’s trying to save her.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“Okay, we’re heading to Manhattan, now.”
“Do you think that Peter’s really dead?”
“He was dead when Mohinder transported him. Although, I have no idea why he brought Peter to his mother’s penthouse instead of bringing him to the hospital.”
Chad shrugged. “If he was killed by Sylar, how would Dr. Suresh explain the cause of death?”
“Peter was hit in the back of the head with a giant shard of glass, not by Sylar ripping his head open.”
“So Sylar didn’t kill him?”
“No. Sylar lodged the glass into Peter’s head.”
“That doesn’t make sense either.”
“I don’t think much of what is going to happen here on out is going to make much sense. After all, we don’t make sense if you think about it.”
“I already went through my identity crisis,” Chad stated smugly.
“Yes, yes,” Ryan said dismissively. “Now keep quiet: I need to steer through New York City traffic.”
* - * - *
Chad knocked on the door as Ryan conducted a few calming yoga exercises.
A young man answered the door. “Hello, can I help you boys?” His voice was gravelly, and Chad loved it.
“Peter,” Ryan said. “We need to come in.”
“Peter?! But Dr. Suresh said - You were dead; he saw you!”
“Yes, come in,” Peter said hastily, cutting off Chad.
The door clicked shut behind them.
“Ryan, what are you doing here?” Peter hissed. “You and your friend need to leave this city as soon as possible. A bomb may go - ”
“We’re here to stop you from exploding,” Ryan said loftily.
“How - how would you know that?”
“I…” Ryan trailed off. “It’s a long story - Hey, you can read my mind too.”
“Too?” Chad and Peter said simultaneously.
“Peter, I’m exactly the same as you are. I absorb what other people can do.”
“You can do what now?” Peter brushed his bangs behind his ear.
“And my friend Chad is exactly like your niece.”
“My niece?”
“Claire.”
A blonde girl peaked around a corner. “I heard my name?”
“Claire, this doesn’t concern you. These two were just leaving.”
“It happens the day after the election,” Ryan said. “And you’ve already told Claire that you need her to be there. Chad and I can back you up too.”
Claire came to stand next to Peter and examined Chad and Ryan. “You both can heal too?”
They both nodded.
“Peter, they could really help.”
Peter looked to Ryan. Chad assumed that they were having a conversation in their heads, so he ignored them as he took in the rest of the house. It was huge. No one would ever need so much space. Rich people confused him.
Claire watched Peter and Ryan, but she had no idea what was going on, so she watched Chad.
Feeling eyes on him, Chad looked to Claire. She was pretty hot, which disturbed him because she was like a curvier version of Sharpay. But Sharpay and Ryan were twins and looked similar, and Ryan was hot.
“Hey!” Peter roared.
Chad jumped and blinked at him owlishly.
“Don’t think about my niece that way!”
“Uh, what? I was thinking about how Ryan’s hot.”
Ryan beamed as Claire stared at Chad with an open mouth.
Peter frowned.
“Okay, if these guys aren’t gonna let us help, what about the artist?” Chad offered.
“Isaac’s dead,” Ryan said. “Sylar killed him.”
“Oh.”
“But if you’re looking for his paintings, they’re all still there.”
“Where?”
“His loft is on the Lower East Side.”
“C’mon, Chad. Let’s check out Isaac’s loft.”
“But - what - I’m so confused.”
“That’s okay, Chad. We’re still going to stop a man from exploding, whether he wants our help or not.”
“Hey!” Peter objected.
“We’ll see you later, Peter, Claire.” Ryan tipped his hat to each of them before leaving with Chad.
“Dude, what’s going on?”
Ryan jumped into the car and motioned for Chad to follow suit. “Nathan and Mrs. Petrelli are not doing anything to stop Peter from exploding and are trying to stop Claire from trying.”
“What?”
“Going to Isaac’s loft may help us to stop Peter.”
“Okay, I’m still really confused as to what’s going on. You do realize that most of what you and Peter said was in your heads, right?”
“Yes, I realize. I also realize that the election is a day away, giving us two days to prevent the city from exploding.”
Chad nodded. “Did you decide where we’re going to be staying?”
Ryan raised an eyebrow at Chad. “I knew before we even left Albuquerque.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re staying at The Plaza.”
“Dude! That would - holy fuck, that would be amazing!”
“I know.” Ryan beamed at him.
“You are amazing, man!” Chad said with a cheesy grin.
“Stop, you’re going to make me blush,” he said bashfully.
They pulled up in front of The Plaza.
“Hey, I thought we were going to Isaac’s apartment.”
“We are, but I see no reason to drive down there to drive back up here.”
“You are something else, Ry.”
“You’re going all mushy on me, Chad.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“It may be in the next few days.”
“But those nights?”
“Do you intend to keep that promise?”
“Yup.”
A valet opened the door for each of them.
“This is going to be so kickass!” Chad gushed, staring up the face of the building.
Ryan pulled their bags out of the trunk and handed Chad his. “Your bourgeois is showing,” he said wryly.
“Sorry,” Chad said sheepishly.
“C’mon.” Ryan led Chad into the building by the small of his back.
* - * - *
Chad’s mouth dropped open. “We’re staying here?”
“Yes. Close your mouth. It’s not at all attractive,” Ryan admonished.
“Have you seen this room?! I’ve never seen anything so… posh! And our room looks out over the park and everything!”
Ryan shrugged. “I’ve stayed here before.”
“Can we go on a horse and buggy ride?”
“Sure. After we stop the city from exploding.”
“Your life is so…different from mine. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
Ryan shrugged again. “Let’s go to Isaac’s loft. We can admire the décor later. We’re also running low on money.”
They caught a cab to the Lower East Side and had no difficulty accessing Isaac’s loft. They found all of his paintings, but couldn’t figure out what they meant.
“Have these things happened yet?” Chad wondered aloud.
Ryan looked pointedly at the floor. “This one obviously hasn’t.”
Chad pointed to a picture of a man who appeared to be on fire. “Peter thinks that’s him?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. It doesn’t look like him.” Chad titled his head to the side. “Nope, still don’t see it.”
“I think this one is Claire.” Ryan stood in front of a painting of a blonde cheerleader.
“And this is the bastard who abducted me!” Chad stood in front of a painting of a man with horn-rimmed glasses who had been shot through the eye. “Good, he’s served justice!”
“Uh, Chad. That’s Claire’s father - well, adoptive father.”
“What now? His daughter is exactly like I am, and he abducted me?”
“Yeah.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Isaac painted his own death. That must be a very eerie feeling.”
“What?”
“Take a look at this.”
“Is that Sylar?”
“Yeah.”
“That is really nasty.”
“Let’s head back uptown before Sylar decides to return to paint a pretty picture.”
“Do you really think he’d return here?”
“Does that matter? Let’s go.”
“You’re freaking out. I’ll take that as a bad sign. Yeah. We can go.”
* - * - *
The bright fluorescent lights of the department store made Chad’s eyes burn.
“Why are we here?”
“We’re running low on money.”
“So we’re buying things?”
“Exactly.” Ryan held up a gaudy, plastic necklace.
“Is that how you did it before?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Hey, why were you so freaked out in Isaac’s loft?”
“Two reasons,” Ryan explained as he examined the jewelry. “One: two people were coming, and two: Isaac’s body was in the other room.”
“Ew!”
“I agree. Okay, let’s go with these.”
“I assume you know where the nearest pawn shop is?”
Ryan smiled confidently.
* - * - *
Chad fell backwards onto the bed in their hotel room. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever been on, and the sheets - the sheets were satin. He wanted to lie there for days.
“We don’t have days,” Ryan reminded him. “Actually, we have about twenty-four hours.”
“How do you know?” Chad propped himself up on his elbows.
“The painting of the exploding man happens at night. In Kirby Plaza.”
“How do you know it’s Kirby Plaza?”
“Peter knew.”
“But how do you know it’s tomorrow night?”
“I just do, Chad. Let it go.”
“Fine. What are we doing tomorrow?”
“We’ve exhausted all outlets.”
“What about Peter’s brother?”
“He’s not willing to try to stop the bomb - I know that because he was in the other room when we were at the Petrelli’s.”
“This sucks.”
“Yeah. Do you we need to stay out all tomorrow night?”
“Probably. I don’t have an exact time.”
“Then we’d better sleep in tomorrow morning. Then we can go on a horse and buggy ride. You know, in case we can’t stop the bomb.”
Ryan smiled shyly at Chad. “Yeah, we can do that.”
“Let me know if you come up with a way to stop them between now and then.”
“I think I do.”
“Really?” Chad sat up fully.
“Yeah. Peter has had difficulty accommodating new abilities as he absorbed them. I haven’t had those problems; it just came smoothly.”
“What’s the difference between you and him, though?”
“Besides the fact that he has an overbearing mother, Peter can’t center himself.”
“Wha?”
“I just hope it works.”
“Me too, whatever it is.”
Ryan crawled over the bed to Chad and pushed him down to the mattress. “Now I believe you made a promise to me earlier.”
Chad smiled hugely. “I believe I did.”
* - * - *
On to the end
Pairing: Ryan/Chad, Troy/Gabriella
Rating: NC-17 total, this part NC-17
Word Count: ~ 32,000 total, this part 7,269
Warnings: Spoilers for the season finale of Heroes as well as major ideas/characters in season two. This fic contains slash, crass language, sexual content, plausible science, and hardcore crack.
Author's Note: This fic diverges from Heroes canon after Run! And takes place the fall semester after HSM2.
Chad is on the basketball, the baseball, and the track and field team according to HSM2. However, that makes no sense because both baseball and track are spring sports, unless it’s indoor track which is a winter sport - like basketball. So therefore, in this universe, Chad runs cross country, a fall sport (even if he isn’t built like a long-distance runner - I’d say his event would be the 400 or even the 800). And Ryan does have a rubber ducky key chain - check out the scene when Taylor and Gabriella pick him up to go to the baseball game. Adorable! Also, I really like Taylor… I have no idea why she’s not in this fic except for a few passing mentions. Huh.
Beta-ed by the ever amazing saekokato, so the remaining errors are my own because I couldn’t stop tinkering with this fic.
Disclaimer: HSM belongs to Ortega and Disney, and Heroes belongs to Kring and NBC. There are references to several other sources including Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Miss Congeniality, Finding Nemo, and fics written by other people. I take no credit for those ideas.
Disclaimer 2: I do not condone the use of any conjugation of the verb “to get” in place of any conjugation of the verb “to be.”
Summary: He couldn’t remember if he was indestructible because he was gay or gay because he was indestructible.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Sharpay dropped them off in front of the bus station and didn’t even wait for them to enter the building before she took off.
“That was almost nice of her,” Chad remarked.
Ryan hummed in agreement. “Let me handle the ticket thing.”
“Sure, man.” After all, Ryan was the one who had the money.
Nine hours later they were in Denver, and Chad had a major crick in his neck from sleeping upright. Ryan had slept with his head on Chad’s lap and his legs across the aisle, so he woke up relaxed, unlike Chad who vowed retribution. Which would probably consist of him sleeping in the backseat of whatever car they chose while Ryan drove.
The car rental place was indeed open when they arrived. Chad decided that Ryan should be in charge of that process… mostly because neither of them were old enough to rent a car, and Ryan could convince anyone that they were old enough and that they should have an awesome car without giving a credit car number.
From what Chad could tell, Ryan charmed the girl behind the counter, and that was it. There were no arguments or calls to the authorities. Ryan just walked away with a set of keys and a devious smile.
“What car do we have?” Chas asked as they wandered the parking lot.
“Viper,” Ryan shrugged.
“A Viper!?”
“Well, the Roadster was out.”
“We’re gonna drive a Viper cross country?”
“Yeah. Did you want a Ferrari instead?”
“A Ferrari?! Seriously? That was an option?”
“No,” Ryan chortled.
“Oh.”
“Wait until you see this car, though.” Ryan winked and pointed.
He pointed to a brand, shiny new Viper Convertible. It was a brick red, and Chad was in love… he didn’t know if it was with the car or the person who chose the car, so he went with the car.
Chad ran his fingers along the hood with a dreamy expression on his face.
“Do you two need a moment alone?” Ryan asked with an amused smile.
Chad snapped out of his daze. “If we had sex in that car, it would be like a threesome.”
Ryan choked. “Excuse me?”
“You saying you don’t want sex in the Viper?” Chad raised his eyebrows.
“That wasn’t my first choice, no.”
“Really? I - oh!” Realization dawned on him.
Ryan popped the trunk. “C’mon, we need to find a pawn shop and then hit the road.”
* - * - *
The pawn shop was closed when they arrived and not set to open for another hour, so they went to a diner for breakfast. Chad really enjoyed the idea of bottomless pockets, especially when those pockets weren’t his.
He was on his third plate of homefries when Ryan announced that they needed to leave.
Chad gave him a confused look through a mouthful of potatoes.
“Trust me, we need to go.” He threw a twenty down on the table and grabbed Chad by the arm. “Now.”
Chad barely had time to collect his thoughts before Ryan shoved him into the Viper, and they were off.
“What the hell was that?” Chad demanded.
“That was us leaving before one of the many government officials in that diner recognized me.”
“Government officials,” Chad repeated inanely.
“Yes.”
“Why? It’s Denver, not D.C.!”
“There’s an air force base in Colorado Springs. They were on leave.”
“Um… I don’t know if I’m gonna like the answer to this, but why would they recognize you?”
“My parents.”
“Uh-huh. But what does that mean?”
“You’re not going to like the answer, so I’m not going to answer that.”
“Now I want to know.” Chad crossed his arms over his chest petulantly.
“Don’t act like a child.” Ryan pulled up in front of a pawn shop. “Now it’s time for me to earn my keep.”
Through the sideview mirror, Chad watched Ryan sort through a bag in the trunk.
“Are you coming?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chad jumped out of the car and joined Ryan as he swaggered into the pawn shop. Chad wanted to watch Ryan haggle.
The girl behind the counter eyed them warily as she popped her gum.
Ryan smiled his most dazzling at her. “Hi. We need some fast cash. Do you appraise?”
“Yeah,” she said. “What’d’a ya got?”
He dug a few items out of his pocket and dumped them on the counter in front of her. It was all jewelry. Chad recognized some of them as belonging to Sharpay, except they weren’t gold when she owned them. In fact, Chad had a suspicion that they were once plastic.
“They were,” Ryan answered in his head. Out loud he said, “They’re all 24 karat.”
The girl inspected them carefully with her eyes and then with her hands, testing for malleability, Chad assumed, and finally weighed them. “I can give you twenty-five hundred.”
“Make it thirty,” Ryan said. His voice was deep and commanding and gave Chad shivers.
“Sure. I need to open the safe in the back. Give me a sec.”
When she left the room, Chad asked, “Did you go Jedi Mind Trick on her?”
Ryan blinked. “I think I just did.”
“Cool.”
She returned and handed Ryan three thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills.
“Thanks, Kelly,” Ryan said with a charming grin.
“Do I know you?” she asked, frowning.
“No,” Ryan answered. “We’re not the droids you’re looking for.”
Chad looked to Ryan in awe. “I think I kinda love you,” he blurted.
The girl was beyond confused.
“Have a nice day,” Ryan said amiably as he shoved Chad out the door.
When they were safely in the Viper, Ryan was excited. “I was only expecting two thousand.”
“I have never seen so much money,” Chad said naively.
“You get half of it. Well, it’s ours.” Ryan shoved the money into his pocket and pulled onto the street. “Let’s get out of the city before we put it in the trunk.”
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“I want to make it to Lincoln, Nebraska tonight.”
“How far away is that?”
“About six or seven hours.”
“Cool.”
They lapsed into a silence that was broken when Chad announced his need for a bathroom.
Ryan pulled into an empty rest stop along I76, and Chad bounded into the bathroom.
Ryan was leaning a hip against the car when Chad returned.
“Uh, hi?” Chad ventured as his mind slid into the gutter. He intensively watched Ryan’s hips wondering how many ways those hips moved and the extent of Ryan’s flexibility. He had seen Ryan’s hips move when dancing, and…
“Hey,” he said in a sultry voice.
“Uh,” Chad repeated.
Ryan smiled at him coyly.
“I thought we needed to go to New York, you know, quickly.”
“You did want a threesome with the car.”
“Now?” Chad squeaked.
“Why not?”
“Uh - I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I kinda want to do this properly. I mean, we’ve done this in, like, well… those other times, and I… want to do this properly,” he repeated resolutely.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Dude!” Chad protested. “I really want to - Ack! If New York doesn’t explode, let’s go home on 66. It’s warmer than here.”
Ryan smiled at him. Something in Chad melted, and he practically mauled Ryan, pressing him against the hood of the car. Chad sucked Ryan’s bottom lip into his mouth as he planted his hands firmly on the hood of the Viper, his elbows locking Ryan’s waist in place. Ryan’s hat fell back onto the hood of the car.
Ryan groaned appreciatively as Chad’s hips bore down on his, and he growled in bereft when Chad sprang off of him as another car pulled into the rest stop.
“Not the exhibitionist type?” Ryan teased as he put his hat back on.
Chad shook his head slowly, and all he could think about was how red and swollen Ryan’s lips were and how Chad had done that to them, and he damn well wanted to do it again.
“You’ll have your chance,” Ryan assured him. “We have all eternity.”
Chad stared at him blankly.
“Would you like to drive?” Ryan held out the key.
Chad’s eyes grew wide, and he stared to salivate. “Really?” he choked out, grabbing the keys before Ryan could change his mind.
“Yeah. Just don’t wet the seats.”
“I won’t. I already took care of that.” Chad smirked at Ryan as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Charming.”
* - * - *
The conversation went from nonexistent to Chad being paranoid about what Ryan picked up from his thoughts. He didn’t know how to talk to Ryan. Well, he knew how, he just didn’t know how to go about it. Ryan confused him. He was sexy as hell, and his pouty lips made Chad think of all sorts of inappropriate things. But inappropriate things didn’t stimulate conversation.
It wasn’t fair that Ryan knew everything about Chad, even those things that he didn’t want anyone to know, but Chad knew next to nothing about Ryan - other the obvious. How did someone bring up something like that?
Of course, Ryan heard that, so that would be as good an introduction as any. Except that Ryan was shy… at least what Chad categorized as shy. He compared Ryan’s personality to Sharpay’s, so he wasn’t exactly shy, just overshadowed by his sister.
“Do you remember Peter Pan?” Ryan asked abruptly.
“Never Never Land? Like that Peter Pan?”
Ryan nodded. “Peter Pan loses his shadow when it’s shut in a window and has a heck of a time trying to get it to do what he wants. And once he catches it again, Wendy has to sew it onto him.”
“I don’t get what you’re saying. Your metaphor or whatever you’re going for.”
“When Wendy sews it on him, he takes all the credit for reuniting his shadow and his body. And life goes on as usual before the shadow rebelled.”
“You’re saying Sharpay is Peter Pan?” Chad gaped at him.
Ryan nodded. “Sharpay is Peter Pan, in all of his boastful glory.”
“And you’re the shadow?”
Ryan nodded again.
“So that’s what you were talking about when she said that stuff the other day?”
“Sharpay rarely lies.”
“That’s a depressing thought.”
“How so?”
“It’s just… You’re in my head, you know.”
Ryan shrugged. “You were the one craving conversation.”
“Among other things,” Chad muttered.
Ryan cleared his throat. “Yes, well.”
“I think we should address the sexual tension between us,” Chad announced resolutely.
Ryan smirked. “You’ve been working on that line since we were in the bus station in Albuquerque.”
“So?”
“It still needs work.”
“Will we?”
“We will.”
“Before I explode?”
“Peter is the one who’s going to explode.”
“Different kind.”
“I don’t know: Peter is hot.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If you’re into that kinda thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“The - well, he - the last time I saw him he had horrible emo hair.”
“Sounds dreamy,” Chad appraised dryly.
“His brother Nathan is hotter.”
“Hotter than me?”
“There’s no need to be insecure. Nathan’s married and has two boys.”
“Wait. How old is Peter?”
“About thirty or so.”
“And Nathan?”
“Dunno. Almost forty.”
“You go for the older guys?”
“You take one look at Nathan and tell me he’s not hot.”
“Is this something like how every woman alive finds Sean Connery sexy?”
“Something like that,” Ryan laughed.
“Tell me more about those brothers.”
“They’re very Italian, which is their word for handsy.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’re a step away from incest.”
“Ew!”
“They are very tactile.”
“Oh.”
“Nathan’s running for Congress. Peter, last I heard, was a hospice nurse.”
“A hospice nurse?”
“He wants to save the world.”
“One old person at a time?”
“He’s always been odd.”
“And now he’s saving a cheerleader.”
“That’s what he told Mohinder.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Suresh.”
“Oh.”
Chad stared out the window. Somewhere in the past few hours, the mountains had turned to corn fields. The whole scenario was… surreal. The whole thing was so completely surreal. He was on a highway heading east through Nebraska with Ryan Evans to stop New York City from exploding, because both he and Ryan were indestructible. While his friends were in New Mexico wondering where the hell they had gone, there was a psycho out there killing people like him, there were people out there kidnapping people like him, and Ryan Evans could read his mind.
“Let’s stop at the next rest stop. I need to stretch my legs.”
“Sure, we need gas anyway.”
Chad pulled the next gas station. Ryan jumped out of the car as soon as Chad put it into neural and pulled the parking brake.
“I’ll handle paying for gas,” he announced on his way out.
“I’ll just… fill the car,” Chad said dejectedly as he watched Ryan trot off inside, probably to the bathroom.
The tank topped off as Ryan returned.
“I already paid,” he stated.
“Cool.”
“I needed to stretch my wings.” Ryan spread his arms out and spun in a graceful circle.
“Your wings?”
“Yes. Should I grab some junk food too?”
“I’ve only been craving beef jerky for the past hour!” Chad enthused.
“I know,” Ryan smirked at him.
“Are we going to go the rest of eternity with you being all superior about being able to read my mind?”
“Among other things, yes.”
“Great,” Chad scoffed.
“Don’t worry, baby,” Ryan cooed sarcastically as he cupped Chad’s face. “I’ll make you an honest man.”
“What’re you talking - You know, never mind.”
Ryan leaned close and gave Chad a peck on the lips. “You’re gorgeous when you’re confused.”
Chad’s mind took a moment to catch up before he gloated. “You think I’m gorgeous,” he said in a sing-song voice. “You want to kiss me. You want to hug me. You want to love me - ”
“Chad,” Ryan interrupted firmly. “We need to head out. You can quote chick flicks in the car.”
“Hey! You’d have to have seen it to know - ”
“Chad,” Ryan repeated.
“What?”
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain in the car. Let me drive.”
“Um… sure.” Chad handed Ryan the keys.
A mile down the road, Ryan said, “It gave me a headache.”
“What did?”
“I spent hours with just your head, and then there were other people…”
“I think you should know that we’re going to a huge city. There are a lot more than two people there.”
“I’m well aware.”
Chad suppressed a snort when Ryan jutted his chin out petulantly. “Is that all? I mean, you kinda freaked.”
Ryan hmphed, and it reminded Chad of Sharpay when she didn’t get what she wanted.
“Well?” Chad pressed.
“The man tending the station was going to put a bullet through your skull.”
“What!?”
“Welcome to the rural Midwest. It’s not as understanding as the city or even the suburbs.”
“So he saw us macking and wanted to kill me?”
“Us, technically.”
“That sucks. But you realize, I’d mend. We both would.”
“Not if he hit a certain part, like what Mohinder said.”
“I didn’t know you cared,” Chad teased, placing a hand on Ryan’s thigh.
Ryan scoffed. “Cut that out.”
“Hey now, no fair. You can touch me and make me all hot and bothered, but I can’t do the same to you?”
“No,” Ryan said tersely. “You can’t. Not while I’m driving.”
They passed a sign that announced the distance to Lincoln: 100 miles.
Chad groaned. “Do we have to stop in Lincoln?”
“We could go all the way to Omaha or even Des Moines if you’d prefer.”
“Don’t be cocky with me.”
Ryan purred at him.
“Oh!” Chad protested. “Oh, come on!”
“No,” Ryan stated again. “We’ll be in Lincoln in about an hour and a half. And half an hour after than I will have you pinned to a mattress, don’t worry.” Chad released a raspy breath. “Now shut up and let me drive.”
Chad sulked and thought dirty things at Ryan. By the time they entered the Lincoln city limits, Ryan’s knuckles were white as he desperately clung to the steering wheel, and his breath was short.
Ryan seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go, Chad observed. They zigzagged all over Lincoln before turning into a parking lot by a nice looking house. The sign outside proclaimed it to be The Rogers House Bed and Breakfast Inn.
“Is this where we’re staying for the night?” Chad asked as Ryan hopped out of the car.
“Yup, grab your bag.”
“Thank God,” Chad breathed and nearly stumbled in his haste to catch up with Ryan.
They entered the house, and Chad took the whole thing in with wonder as Ryan spoke with the girl at the front desk. It was a quaint old house, a historical landmark if the promotional paraphernalia were any indication. This was the kind of place Chad’s mother would enjoy.
“Chad!” Ryan called. “C’mon.” Ryan motioned for Chad to join him at the desk.
“Here are your keys,” the girl announced handing Ryan and Chad a key each. “Are you sure you don’t want a cot rolled in?”
“Quite sure,” Chad said quickly.
She smiled at them. “Breakfast will be delivered to your room at 9 tomorrow morning. Have fun antiquing!”
Ryan smiled back. “We will.”
He led Chad up a stairwell. “What the hell was she talking about?”
“Antiquing is a… well, it’s a euphemism for being gay.”
“She knew we were gay!”
“Calm down. We are staying in a room that is pretty much the honeymoon suite. She didn’t have to think too hard to come to conclusions.”
“Honeymoon suite?” Chad squeaked.
“Yeah, the Banker’s Suite.”
“That doesn’t sound romantic… I can’t believe I said that.” Chad made a face.
“It has a jacuzzi for two.”
“Seriously?”
They came to a stop in front of a giant oak door. Chad stared at it.
“Well, are you going to open it up?”
“Oh!” Chad fumbled with the key until he was able to open the door.
He and Ryan stepped in and locked the door behind them. They dropped their bags in the entrance way.
“Whoa,” Chad whispered, taking in the suite. It was huge and just as quaint as the rest of the place. There was a queen-sized bed, a couple of couches, a freaking fireplace, some weird greenhouse-sun room, and a giant jacuzzi.
Ryan hummed in agreement.
“I thought we would be staying in motels, but this is way better.”
“You thought I would stay at a motel?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“Well, I suppose not.”
Ryan hummed again before tackling Chad to the couch in front of the fire.
Chad released a very undignified squawk, and Ryan growled against his mouth, “I’ve been waiting all fucking day for this.”
“Did you just say “fuck”?” Chad gasped.
“Yes, now shut up.” Ryan nipped a trail down Chad’s neck for emphasis. “There are other things you could be doing.”
Chad could not agree more. He was underneath Ryan, which meant that Ryan had gravity working against him. Chad took advantage of this by gyrating his hips in an obscene mockery of one of Ryan’s dance routines. He tossed Ryan’s hat off of his head and wrapped his hands around Ryan’s waist, and they came to a rest on Ryan’s butt. He squeezed and pulled Ryan’s hips towards him.
Ryan growled again, bringing one hand up underneath the back of Chad’s form-fitting t-shirt and the other tracing along the inside of the elastic on Chad’s boxers. Ryan’s hips pressed down onto Chad’s, and he bit and licked at a certain point on Chad’s neck that caused a severe reaction from Chad including a loud, throaty groan and a pronounced shudder.
Chad had to put every effort into willing himself to not come in his pants. He cursed his lack of stamina but blamed a lack of practice with another body - okay, no practice at all with another body except for those three times with Ryan - and the fact that his and Ryan’s foreplay had lasted days.
“You come in your pants and I will lick you clean,” Ryan murmured into Chad’s mouth.
Chad came instantly with a silent cry and a violent shudder. “You’d better make good on your promise,” he said breathlessly.
Ryan smirked at him as his long fingers began to unbutton and unzip Chad’s jeans. Very slowly. Antagonizingly slowly.
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called an antagonist.”
“Are you always this much of smart ass?”
Ryan didn’t answer. He slipped a hand inside the “v” of the open zipper and the slit in the boxers and cupped Chad, squeezing lightly before he removed his hand and leaned back onto his haunches.
Chad propped himself up on his elbows and watched Ryan in confusion. Ryan sucked his fingers into his mouth and made a show of licking them clean. Chad’s mind shorted out when Ryan started humming appraisingly.
“You eat a lot of bananas,” he said around his fingers.
“Was that some sort of euphemism?” Chad attempted to say but couldn’t force out all the words. Ryan heard it in his mind anyway.
“No, it means that your come tastes sweet.”
Chad grunted and wriggled his hips as the uncomfortable feeling of sticky boxers settled over him.
In one swift movement, Ryan removed Chad’s boxers and jeans so they pooled around his thighs. Chad was still hard and squirmed, writhing unattractively as Ryan licked him clean. He was moving antagonizingly slowly again, and the heat of Ryan’s mouth on him and the cool of where said mouth had been was one of the most amazing and intense feelings Chad had ever experienced.
“It gets better.” Ryan’s voice sent glorious vibrations against his upper thighs.
Chad almost whited out when Ryan swallowed him whole, no preamble, just the tip of his cock hitting the back of Ryan’s throat.
He let out a keening whine. There was too much stimulation. It was so much so quickly. And Ryan was pinning his legs down, and Chad desperately wanted to thrust up into Ryan’s wet mouth.
Ryan started to hum, and Chad lost it. He thrashed his head side to side, his curls obscuring his face, sticking in places to the sweat that had formed on his forehead, as his hands dug into Ryan’s shoulders.
He was going to come again. Chad’s stomach muscles quivered as he tried to control himself. One of Ryan’s hands wound around Chad’s back when he had arched up. The hand traced the curve of Chad’s butt.
Ryan had another hand. Chad knew this, but he still jumped when it came to rest on his balls. Ryan palmed and massaged Chad’s balls until they drew up. Ryan stopped humming and drew back so that only the tip of Chad’s cock was in his mouth. He stuck his tongue in the slit, and Chad came again, clawing at Ryan’s back.
Chad thumped his head back down on the couch. Ryan didn’t come, he noted. He also noted the bulge in Ryan’s powder blue pants. Chad would never admit that he was intimidated, but he had no idea what to do. Well, he knew what to do; he just didn’t know what he would feel comfortable doing.
He thought back to the locker room at Lava Springs where he and Ryan fooled around for one of the first few times and the Bolton’s laundry room… and the bathroom at homecoming. It had mostly been Ryan as the aggressor, but Chad had no problem reaching into Ryan’s pants then, so he did it again, but Ryan stopped him with a tight hand around Chad’s wrist.
“Let me remove my pants first.” Ryan untangled himself from Chad, shimmied out of his pants, and tossed them onto the bed.
“All this time you haven’t been wearing underwear?!” Chad wailed.
Ryan smirked as he climbed back onto Chad who ran his hands up Ryan’s thighs. His hands reunited at the junction of Ryan’s legs, and he attempted to remember what Ryan had liked that first time.
“Be creative,” Ryan suggested as his breath grew labored.
Chad took Ryan’s advice and attempted to recreate what he did when he was by himself with Ryan. Unfortunately, all of the actions were the mirror image of what Chad was accustomed to, which led to awkward hand movements with no rhythm. He continued with clunky, uncomfortable motions until Ryan’s hand joined his, and they continued together.
Ryan demonstrated exactly what he was craving, and Chad watched in fascination as their fingers entwined over Ryan’s cock. It was weird but in a good way.
It didn’t take long for Ryan to come. Their combined hands caught most of what Ryan released, and Ryan brought their hands up to his lips, licking his and Chad’s hand clean.
“You have this really weird oral fixation,” Chad pointed out.
“Are you complaining?” Ryan raised an eyebrow at Chad as he removed all digits from his mouth.
“No!”
“Good. Now rest up, because I intend to christen every surface in this suite, including that jacuzzi.”
Ryan climbed off Chad and peeled off his shirt. Now completely naked, Ryan wandered into the bathroom to wash up. Chad would catch up with him in a moment - as soon as he caught his breath and convinced his heart rate that he had not just run a marathon.
* - * - *
Someone very evil was knocking on the door.
Chad glanced at the clock on the night stand. Well, he would have, but there was a very naked blond sprawled out on top of him, and he couldn’t move at all. Chad very carefully maneuvered so that Ryan no longer was on top of him and reluctantly crawled out of the warm bed.
He had some forethought to grab a pair of jeans and put them on before he answered the door, which was good. He really didn’t want the man delivering their breakfast to know every detail of his anatomy.
“Thanks,” he said in a hoarse voice. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to tip the man, but he was saved when Ryan showed up with a generous tip.
Ryan took the tray of food to the table in the sun room. Chad followed like a puppy. There were eggs, French toast, homefries, and orange juice, and Chad was starving.
He dug in enthusiastically.
“Some of this is for me,” Ryan reminded him.
“Right. You can have the maple syrup.”
Ryan’s grin reminded Chad of the Grinch’s when he conceived the idea to steal Christmas from the Whos. It made him uneasy as an intense feeling of foreboding settled over him.
“What?”
“I wouldn’t put the syrup on the French toast.”
Chad almost dropped his forkful of eggs. “We do need to leave some time today,” he said haltingly.
“No. I booked this room for two nights,” Ryan shrugged.
“What?! Why?”
Ryan grinned at Chad. “We still haven’t christened anything in this room,” he said with feigned innocence.
“What?! Oh! You’re - you’re evil! But shouldn’t we, uh, get to New York as soon as possible?” Chad protested feebly. Apparently their actions last night did not release all of the sexual tension in Ryan like it had for Chad. Not that Chad was averse to ever having sex with Ryan again. He just felt that stopping New York from exploding was a little higher up there in his priorities. No offence to Ryan or anything, but New York had two weeks, and he and Ryan had all eternity.
“New York will be fine for another day.”
“Are you sure?”
Ryan projected an image that made Chad’s knees buckle.
“That is cheating.”
“An Evans will do anything to get his way. Are you complaining?”
“Only about - You know what? Never mind.”
Ryan grabbed Chad’s fork and put it down on the table before he clutched Chad’s hand and dragged him over to their bed.
Chad made a small, startled noise, but he allowed himself to be dragged.
* - * - *
Chad tried to massage the ache from his jaw as Ryan navigated them back onto I80 as he hummed some tune Chad vaguely recognized.
“Where’s our next stop?” Chad asked.
“South Bend, Indiana. An Irish Bed and Breakfast called Innisfree, in a suite named after Yates.”
“How far away is that?”
“About ten hours.”
“Seriously? Well, I guess that explains why we left so early.”
“Yeah. Do you think you can make it that long?”
“Yeah. It’ll take that long for my jaw to recover.”
Ryan grinned at him. “We can stop in Chicago for a late lunch, and be in South Bend by early evening.”
They passed a mile marker sign for Omaha.
“But first can we stop in Omaha for junk food? I still want some beef jerky.”
“We can.”
“Where are we going after South Bend?”
“Pittsburgh, then New York.”
“How far away is Pittsburgh from New York?”
“Six hours.”
“So we’ll be in New York in about three days?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
“Does that fit into your busy schedule?” Ryan asked condescendingly.
“Hey now. There’s no need to be all testy. Especially after the past thirty-six hours.”
“I’m fine,” he said shortly.
“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I did.” Chad frowned in thought. He didn’t remember anything that he thought or said that would be considered offensive in any context. Ryan was grinning at him a moment ago. It was like some switch had been flipped, and Chad was exposed to the nasty side of Ryan’s personality. It sorta reminded him of Sharpay, and that was a freaky thought.
“No,” Ryan sighed. “It’s… I’m not sure how to explain it.”
“We have ten hours with nothing better to do. Why don’t you at least try? I can’t just reach into your head and take it.”
“It’s…” Ryan groped for the right word. “It’s like I’m not completely in control of my body’s responses.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like someone else other than me is controlling me.”
“Are you talking about God or something?”
“No!” Ryan said tersely. “Nothing biblical, just… I don’t know. It’s this weird feeling that I’m not in control of me.”
“Huh.” That would explain Ryan’s crazy mood swings, but it didn’t explain the how.
“Can we not talk about it now?” Ryan begged.
“Uh, sure. No problem.” Chad gave Ryan a concerned look and then looked out the window.
* - * - *
“Where are we going when we get to New York?” Chad asked, prompted by a sign informing them that New York was 75 miles in front of them.
“We’re going to find Peter Petrelli.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Oh. That’s not very helpful.” Chad thought for a moment. “What about that artist that paints the future?”
“What about him?”
“Wouldn’t he know what’s going on?”
“He might but I don’t know where he lives either.”
“Oh. Uh, never mind, then.”
“No, it was a good point. Isaac Mendez would have a greater insight into the whole situation than Peter.”
“Isaac’s the artist?”
“Yeah.”
“What about Dr. Suresh? He obviously knows Peter.”
Ryan thought on it. “Let’s start with Mohinder. I think I can remember where he lives.”
“You know where he lives?”
“I was in his mind.”
“So even if I’m not thinking about something if I know it, you can still know it?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh God. That is - I’m doomed.”
“You’re not doomed. Don’t be so melodramatic. You simply won’t be able to keep a secret from me.”
“Great,” Chad muttered darkly. “Wait! Is that why you’ve known exactly where we were going and never needed a map or to ask for directions?”
Ryan laughed. “It took you five days to think to ask that. Yes, that’s why.”
“What are you gonna do when we’re in the city and there are millions of people around?”
“I’m going to focus on you,” Ryan said with feigned sweetness.
Chad rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
* - * - *
Chad knocked on Dr. Suresh’s door for the fifth time.
“Are you sure he’s there?”
“Yeah. He’s there.”
“Dr. Suresh!” Chad bellowed. “Why isn’t he answering the door?” he asked Ryan.
“He’s scared?” Ryan furrowed his brow.
“Why would he be scared of us?”
“He’s not scared of us. He’s scared of - Sylar.”
“Sylar? Dr. Suresh! It’s Chad and Ryan!” Chad banged on the door again. “From New Mexico!”
“He’s coming!” Ryan announced giddily.
The door opened slowly.
“Come in quickly,” Dr. Suresh hissed.
The door was triple locked behind them.
Chad took in Dr. Suresh’s apartment. It was a mess, a complete mess. It looked like a tornado had torn through.
“A serial killer did,” Ryan projected.
Oh… Oh! That was why Dr. Suresh looked like he hadn’t slept in years.
“What brings you boys to New York?” he asked. He sounded exhausted.
“We’re looking for Peter Petrelli,” Ryan said.
Dr. Suresh looked remorseful. “Peter Petrelli is dead.”
“What?! He can’t be dead - he’s going to - That’s not possible!” Chad declared.
“He’s dead,” Dr. Suresh asserted. “Sylar killed him.”
“So Sylar can do what Peter could?” Ryan asked.
“No.” He paused. “Peter’s body is with his mother and brother.”
“Thank you, Mohinder,” Ryan said quickly before Chad could open his mouth. “Chad and I will be going now. Good luck with Molly.”
“Who’s Molly?” Chad asked as Ryan shoved him out the door.
“She’s a girl with the Shanti virus,” Ryan explained as they climbed into the Viper. “Mohinder’s trying to save her.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“Okay, we’re heading to Manhattan, now.”
“Do you think that Peter’s really dead?”
“He was dead when Mohinder transported him. Although, I have no idea why he brought Peter to his mother’s penthouse instead of bringing him to the hospital.”
Chad shrugged. “If he was killed by Sylar, how would Dr. Suresh explain the cause of death?”
“Peter was hit in the back of the head with a giant shard of glass, not by Sylar ripping his head open.”
“So Sylar didn’t kill him?”
“No. Sylar lodged the glass into Peter’s head.”
“That doesn’t make sense either.”
“I don’t think much of what is going to happen here on out is going to make much sense. After all, we don’t make sense if you think about it.”
“I already went through my identity crisis,” Chad stated smugly.
“Yes, yes,” Ryan said dismissively. “Now keep quiet: I need to steer through New York City traffic.”
* - * - *
Chad knocked on the door as Ryan conducted a few calming yoga exercises.
A young man answered the door. “Hello, can I help you boys?” His voice was gravelly, and Chad loved it.
“Peter,” Ryan said. “We need to come in.”
“Peter?! But Dr. Suresh said - You were dead; he saw you!”
“Yes, come in,” Peter said hastily, cutting off Chad.
The door clicked shut behind them.
“Ryan, what are you doing here?” Peter hissed. “You and your friend need to leave this city as soon as possible. A bomb may go - ”
“We’re here to stop you from exploding,” Ryan said loftily.
“How - how would you know that?”
“I…” Ryan trailed off. “It’s a long story - Hey, you can read my mind too.”
“Too?” Chad and Peter said simultaneously.
“Peter, I’m exactly the same as you are. I absorb what other people can do.”
“You can do what now?” Peter brushed his bangs behind his ear.
“And my friend Chad is exactly like your niece.”
“My niece?”
“Claire.”
A blonde girl peaked around a corner. “I heard my name?”
“Claire, this doesn’t concern you. These two were just leaving.”
“It happens the day after the election,” Ryan said. “And you’ve already told Claire that you need her to be there. Chad and I can back you up too.”
Claire came to stand next to Peter and examined Chad and Ryan. “You both can heal too?”
They both nodded.
“Peter, they could really help.”
Peter looked to Ryan. Chad assumed that they were having a conversation in their heads, so he ignored them as he took in the rest of the house. It was huge. No one would ever need so much space. Rich people confused him.
Claire watched Peter and Ryan, but she had no idea what was going on, so she watched Chad.
Feeling eyes on him, Chad looked to Claire. She was pretty hot, which disturbed him because she was like a curvier version of Sharpay. But Sharpay and Ryan were twins and looked similar, and Ryan was hot.
“Hey!” Peter roared.
Chad jumped and blinked at him owlishly.
“Don’t think about my niece that way!”
“Uh, what? I was thinking about how Ryan’s hot.”
Ryan beamed as Claire stared at Chad with an open mouth.
Peter frowned.
“Okay, if these guys aren’t gonna let us help, what about the artist?” Chad offered.
“Isaac’s dead,” Ryan said. “Sylar killed him.”
“Oh.”
“But if you’re looking for his paintings, they’re all still there.”
“Where?”
“His loft is on the Lower East Side.”
“C’mon, Chad. Let’s check out Isaac’s loft.”
“But - what - I’m so confused.”
“That’s okay, Chad. We’re still going to stop a man from exploding, whether he wants our help or not.”
“Hey!” Peter objected.
“We’ll see you later, Peter, Claire.” Ryan tipped his hat to each of them before leaving with Chad.
“Dude, what’s going on?”
Ryan jumped into the car and motioned for Chad to follow suit. “Nathan and Mrs. Petrelli are not doing anything to stop Peter from exploding and are trying to stop Claire from trying.”
“What?”
“Going to Isaac’s loft may help us to stop Peter.”
“Okay, I’m still really confused as to what’s going on. You do realize that most of what you and Peter said was in your heads, right?”
“Yes, I realize. I also realize that the election is a day away, giving us two days to prevent the city from exploding.”
Chad nodded. “Did you decide where we’re going to be staying?”
Ryan raised an eyebrow at Chad. “I knew before we even left Albuquerque.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re staying at The Plaza.”
“Dude! That would - holy fuck, that would be amazing!”
“I know.” Ryan beamed at him.
“You are amazing, man!” Chad said with a cheesy grin.
“Stop, you’re going to make me blush,” he said bashfully.
They pulled up in front of The Plaza.
“Hey, I thought we were going to Isaac’s apartment.”
“We are, but I see no reason to drive down there to drive back up here.”
“You are something else, Ry.”
“You’re going all mushy on me, Chad.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“It may be in the next few days.”
“But those nights?”
“Do you intend to keep that promise?”
“Yup.”
A valet opened the door for each of them.
“This is going to be so kickass!” Chad gushed, staring up the face of the building.
Ryan pulled their bags out of the trunk and handed Chad his. “Your bourgeois is showing,” he said wryly.
“Sorry,” Chad said sheepishly.
“C’mon.” Ryan led Chad into the building by the small of his back.
* - * - *
Chad’s mouth dropped open. “We’re staying here?”
“Yes. Close your mouth. It’s not at all attractive,” Ryan admonished.
“Have you seen this room?! I’ve never seen anything so… posh! And our room looks out over the park and everything!”
Ryan shrugged. “I’ve stayed here before.”
“Can we go on a horse and buggy ride?”
“Sure. After we stop the city from exploding.”
“Your life is so…different from mine. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
Ryan shrugged again. “Let’s go to Isaac’s loft. We can admire the décor later. We’re also running low on money.”
They caught a cab to the Lower East Side and had no difficulty accessing Isaac’s loft. They found all of his paintings, but couldn’t figure out what they meant.
“Have these things happened yet?” Chad wondered aloud.
Ryan looked pointedly at the floor. “This one obviously hasn’t.”
Chad pointed to a picture of a man who appeared to be on fire. “Peter thinks that’s him?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. It doesn’t look like him.” Chad titled his head to the side. “Nope, still don’t see it.”
“I think this one is Claire.” Ryan stood in front of a painting of a blonde cheerleader.
“And this is the bastard who abducted me!” Chad stood in front of a painting of a man with horn-rimmed glasses who had been shot through the eye. “Good, he’s served justice!”
“Uh, Chad. That’s Claire’s father - well, adoptive father.”
“What now? His daughter is exactly like I am, and he abducted me?”
“Yeah.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Isaac painted his own death. That must be a very eerie feeling.”
“What?”
“Take a look at this.”
“Is that Sylar?”
“Yeah.”
“That is really nasty.”
“Let’s head back uptown before Sylar decides to return to paint a pretty picture.”
“Do you really think he’d return here?”
“Does that matter? Let’s go.”
“You’re freaking out. I’ll take that as a bad sign. Yeah. We can go.”
* - * - *
The bright fluorescent lights of the department store made Chad’s eyes burn.
“Why are we here?”
“We’re running low on money.”
“So we’re buying things?”
“Exactly.” Ryan held up a gaudy, plastic necklace.
“Is that how you did it before?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Hey, why were you so freaked out in Isaac’s loft?”
“Two reasons,” Ryan explained as he examined the jewelry. “One: two people were coming, and two: Isaac’s body was in the other room.”
“Ew!”
“I agree. Okay, let’s go with these.”
“I assume you know where the nearest pawn shop is?”
Ryan smiled confidently.
* - * - *
Chad fell backwards onto the bed in their hotel room. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever been on, and the sheets - the sheets were satin. He wanted to lie there for days.
“We don’t have days,” Ryan reminded him. “Actually, we have about twenty-four hours.”
“How do you know?” Chad propped himself up on his elbows.
“The painting of the exploding man happens at night. In Kirby Plaza.”
“How do you know it’s Kirby Plaza?”
“Peter knew.”
“But how do you know it’s tomorrow night?”
“I just do, Chad. Let it go.”
“Fine. What are we doing tomorrow?”
“We’ve exhausted all outlets.”
“What about Peter’s brother?”
“He’s not willing to try to stop the bomb - I know that because he was in the other room when we were at the Petrelli’s.”
“This sucks.”
“Yeah. Do you we need to stay out all tomorrow night?”
“Probably. I don’t have an exact time.”
“Then we’d better sleep in tomorrow morning. Then we can go on a horse and buggy ride. You know, in case we can’t stop the bomb.”
Ryan smiled shyly at Chad. “Yeah, we can do that.”
“Let me know if you come up with a way to stop them between now and then.”
“I think I do.”
“Really?” Chad sat up fully.
“Yeah. Peter has had difficulty accommodating new abilities as he absorbed them. I haven’t had those problems; it just came smoothly.”
“What’s the difference between you and him, though?”
“Besides the fact that he has an overbearing mother, Peter can’t center himself.”
“Wha?”
“I just hope it works.”
“Me too, whatever it is.”
Ryan crawled over the bed to Chad and pushed him down to the mattress. “Now I believe you made a promise to me earlier.”
Chad smiled hugely. “I believe I did.”
* - * - *
On to the end