how many times has it been (that we've been stuck in this cycle)? for eisoj5
Title: how many times has it been (that we've been
stuck in this cycle)?
Recipient: eisoj5
Author: ?
Characters: Nathan, Claire, Hiro, Niki, Peter.
Rating: PG, for one or two words.
Specifics: gen, post-apocalyptic, no explicit
pairings.
stuck in this cycle)?'>"Is he alright?"
"The entire damn city just got blown up and you want
to know-"
"It wasn't his fault."
"Nothing ever seems to be anyone's fault."
---
It's sort of one step up from a shack. More like a
lean-to, really, if anyone was in the mood to mince
words.
Nobody is.
It's the sort of effect the total annihilation of the
entire American northeast can have on a person.
Though it's more the principle of the thing, really.
Nathan isn't sure but he thinks that this cannot be
the first time they've been through this, even if they
don't remember the others and only have evidence of
one more.
Because they're all numb to the actual death and
destruction, so maybe they've been through this
before. Like Niki didn’t cry when DL died, just set
her jaw and kept on fighting. Like that Haitian’s last
word was finally, like he was expecting the
whole damn thing or something.
Like he wasn’t so shocked when Peter exploded, like he
wasn’t expecting to stop it. Like they were all sort
of frozen, except Claire, who was running forward in
an attempt to make sure Peter didn’t stay dead.
Like he doesn’t expect Peter to wake up, no matter how
much he hates himself for the thought.
Like Peter saw the entire thing beforehand- he
was nowhere near Issac, and Nathan would bet his
bottom dollar that that wasn’t any vision-it was a
memory.
Their bodies remember, even if their minds don't.
And one thing they've all learned is that sometimes
the mind is not to be trusted.
---
"Nathan-"
"Yeah, he's fine. He will be, anyway. You think I'd be
here if he wasn't?"
---
Claire feels like she's failed.
Hell, they all do.
But she was supposed to be a nurse. The nurse.
Zach once told her, you can't fix what ain't
broke. But Zach is back in Odessa, alive. She
wants to call him, but the phones are dead just like
everything else. Radiation is blocking out all
satellite communication.
She's sort of glad he didn't come with her. Everyone
who came with them seems to be dead.
Dad-because Mr. Bennet will always be Dad, no matter
what happened-and Niki's kid, Micah, who taught her so
much about fixing things, and DL. Matt and Audrey, and
Ando, and Nathan’s wife and kids. Simone. All the
'normals' anyone brought along.
And the ones who are left won’t live long under this
kind of radiation. They should already be dead, being
so close to Peter when he detonated. The mutations
must make them somehow more immune, but surely nothing
can hold up to this?
(Except her.)
How soon until only Peter and she are left?
The others need to leave, but somehow they’re all
convinced that the answer lays somewhere in this city.
If only they can find it.
It’s a big city.
---
"I don't know what to think anymore."
"You think anyone of us does?"
"Thank god Mohinder managed to get out. At least DC
will have someone somewhat informed to talk to."
"If Virginia's still on the map."
---
Hiro is watching Issac paint, hoping for a miracle.
His sword feels heavy on his back, like a burden. Like
bricks, weighing him down. There's a scar
crisscrossing down his face, burn marks. Dragon scars.
Battle scars.
Nothing compared to Peter's, which trace the shatter
marks where Peter exploded. Hiro can't help but feel
it's his own fault, especially when he watches the
young man sleep.
In that horrible coma, like Ando before-
Hiro won’t think about Ando, now.
Issac is painting Mohinder. The artwork starts to take
shape, until Hiro can clearly see the professor
presenting a speech to men in suits, like students.
They look thunderstruck.
Hiro doesn’t blame them.
Issac’s eyes suddenly change back to brown from that
cloudy white, and he glances at his canvas. So
hopeful, like maybe-maybe-this time it will
hold the solution. His eyes roam over the comic-like
figures, blocky and graphic and telling. Not what they
need.
He snarls, and throws the canvas aside.
Starts again.
Hiro watches, and prays. Maybe this time.
---
"We need to stop it. Go back- get Hiro to go back-"
"Again?"
"Because that worked so well last time."
---
Niki is so goddamned tired of this.
She can't do anything, and for once Jessica is silent.
Niki's learned to control her, and now when she looks
into a mirror all she sees is herself.
At least, that's what she thinks she would see.
There aren't many mirrors left, now.
Niki sort of misses her big sister.
She always knew what to do.
Niki doesn't even know where to begin.
They’re all so strong, all the other “heroes”. Niki's
not. She's just (just?) a person, just a mother who
failed.
Except that she's one of the reasons for the
Apocalypse.
Maybe she's one of the horsemen.
Or maybe she's just the Whore of Babylon.
---
"Maybe we can't change the future."
"Or the past."
"We already have. A little."
"Not enough."
"We've got nothing left to do but try."
---
Nightmares, and that's all.
Peter's living in a land of his own nightmares.
Something is chasing him, something dark and huge and
looming.
He wonders why he's still alive.
He wishes he were dead.
He knows there must be something left to do.
He's not scared anymore.
He's already been through all this.
He isn't scared.
He knows what's chasing him.
He stops running, turns around-
Opens his eyes, and sees-
The face of his brother, concerned and looking at him
from above.
"You're awake," says Nathan softly.
Peter glances around at the surroundings- broken cot,
messy dusty sheets. The world of after-Doomsday.
"Yeah," he whispers, "I guess I am."
---
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Let's send Peter."
[end.]
stuck in this cycle)?
Recipient: eisoj5
Author: ?
Characters: Nathan, Claire, Hiro, Niki, Peter.
Rating: PG, for one or two words.
Specifics: gen, post-apocalyptic, no explicit
pairings.
stuck in this cycle)?'>"Is he alright?"
"The entire damn city just got blown up and you want
to know-"
"It wasn't his fault."
"Nothing ever seems to be anyone's fault."
---
It's sort of one step up from a shack. More like a
lean-to, really, if anyone was in the mood to mince
words.
Nobody is.
It's the sort of effect the total annihilation of the
entire American northeast can have on a person.
Though it's more the principle of the thing, really.
Nathan isn't sure but he thinks that this cannot be
the first time they've been through this, even if they
don't remember the others and only have evidence of
one more.
Because they're all numb to the actual death and
destruction, so maybe they've been through this
before. Like Niki didn’t cry when DL died, just set
her jaw and kept on fighting. Like that Haitian’s last
word was finally, like he was expecting the
whole damn thing or something.
Like he wasn’t so shocked when Peter exploded, like he
wasn’t expecting to stop it. Like they were all sort
of frozen, except Claire, who was running forward in
an attempt to make sure Peter didn’t stay dead.
Like he doesn’t expect Peter to wake up, no matter how
much he hates himself for the thought.
Like Peter saw the entire thing beforehand- he
was nowhere near Issac, and Nathan would bet his
bottom dollar that that wasn’t any vision-it was a
memory.
Their bodies remember, even if their minds don't.
And one thing they've all learned is that sometimes
the mind is not to be trusted.
---
"Nathan-"
"Yeah, he's fine. He will be, anyway. You think I'd be
here if he wasn't?"
---
Claire feels like she's failed.
Hell, they all do.
But she was supposed to be a nurse. The nurse.
Zach once told her, you can't fix what ain't
broke. But Zach is back in Odessa, alive. She
wants to call him, but the phones are dead just like
everything else. Radiation is blocking out all
satellite communication.
She's sort of glad he didn't come with her. Everyone
who came with them seems to be dead.
Dad-because Mr. Bennet will always be Dad, no matter
what happened-and Niki's kid, Micah, who taught her so
much about fixing things, and DL. Matt and Audrey, and
Ando, and Nathan’s wife and kids. Simone. All the
'normals' anyone brought along.
And the ones who are left won’t live long under this
kind of radiation. They should already be dead, being
so close to Peter when he detonated. The mutations
must make them somehow more immune, but surely nothing
can hold up to this?
(Except her.)
How soon until only Peter and she are left?
The others need to leave, but somehow they’re all
convinced that the answer lays somewhere in this city.
If only they can find it.
It’s a big city.
---
"I don't know what to think anymore."
"You think anyone of us does?"
"Thank god Mohinder managed to get out. At least DC
will have someone somewhat informed to talk to."
"If Virginia's still on the map."
---
Hiro is watching Issac paint, hoping for a miracle.
His sword feels heavy on his back, like a burden. Like
bricks, weighing him down. There's a scar
crisscrossing down his face, burn marks. Dragon scars.
Battle scars.
Nothing compared to Peter's, which trace the shatter
marks where Peter exploded. Hiro can't help but feel
it's his own fault, especially when he watches the
young man sleep.
In that horrible coma, like Ando before-
Hiro won’t think about Ando, now.
Issac is painting Mohinder. The artwork starts to take
shape, until Hiro can clearly see the professor
presenting a speech to men in suits, like students.
They look thunderstruck.
Hiro doesn’t blame them.
Issac’s eyes suddenly change back to brown from that
cloudy white, and he glances at his canvas. So
hopeful, like maybe-maybe-this time it will
hold the solution. His eyes roam over the comic-like
figures, blocky and graphic and telling. Not what they
need.
He snarls, and throws the canvas aside.
Starts again.
Hiro watches, and prays. Maybe this time.
---
"We need to stop it. Go back- get Hiro to go back-"
"Again?"
"Because that worked so well last time."
---
Niki is so goddamned tired of this.
She can't do anything, and for once Jessica is silent.
Niki's learned to control her, and now when she looks
into a mirror all she sees is herself.
At least, that's what she thinks she would see.
There aren't many mirrors left, now.
Niki sort of misses her big sister.
She always knew what to do.
Niki doesn't even know where to begin.
They’re all so strong, all the other “heroes”. Niki's
not. She's just (just?) a person, just a mother who
failed.
Except that she's one of the reasons for the
Apocalypse.
Maybe she's one of the horsemen.
Or maybe she's just the Whore of Babylon.
---
"Maybe we can't change the future."
"Or the past."
"We already have. A little."
"Not enough."
"We've got nothing left to do but try."
---
Nightmares, and that's all.
Peter's living in a land of his own nightmares.
Something is chasing him, something dark and huge and
looming.
He wonders why he's still alive.
He wishes he were dead.
He knows there must be something left to do.
He's not scared anymore.
He's already been through all this.
He isn't scared.
He knows what's chasing him.
He stops running, turns around-
Opens his eyes, and sees-
The face of his brother, concerned and looking at him
from above.
"You're awake," says Nathan softly.
Peter glances around at the surroundings- broken cot,
messy dusty sheets. The world of after-Doomsday.
"Yeah," he whispers, "I guess I am."
---
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Let's send Peter."
[end.]