Compelling
Title: Compelling
Author: jaune_chat
Fandom: Heroes
Characters/Pairing: Matt, Eden
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of abuse.
Word Count: 594
Spoilers: Season 1, takes place in “Five Years Gone” verse with Government Agent Evil!Matt.
Warnings: Violence. Abuse of abilities. Bogarting of canon (Eden didn’t die!).
Inspiration: tiny ghost Maybe In Time.
Disclaimer: Heroes is owned by Tim Kring, NBC, et al.
Author's Notes: This is a prequel to Stray. Written for the heroesghostsfic Crown Chakra Fic Jam.
Summary: Eden wants to persuade someone to help her. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
She could feel her own bones, see them almost poking through her thin flesh. Too many days on the run, the danger too great to even stop to eat, had left her wasted and wan. Too many blows unsuccessfully dodged had turned her skin into a patchwork of purple and green, and every movement ached.
Too many screams for people to stop, to leave her alone, had left her throat ragged and torn. The world was full of desperate, scared people, all of them too willing to believe that even the most innocent-seeming of faces was harboring one of the deadly abilities that had changed the face of the world.
The fact that Eden did have an ability had only made things worse. She’d persuade one person to leave her alone, and three more that had been out of range would call the dogs on her. So she’d run, farther and harder than she ever had before.
Until she couldn’t run anymore.
Exhausted, she sank onto the ground of the alley, her mind quiet and slow. People passed her by, ignoring her faint cries for help, cries that she was afraid to put any power into, not certain if she had any power left to give. But then he came.
Tall, strong, he looked like he could protect her from the world.
“Help me,” she cried, putting her last strength into her words. Just a spark, her last spark, maybe just enough to persuade this man to help her up, maybe give her some food, not hurt her. She didn’t want to control him; that’s what had gotten her to this state.
He turned towards her, and she suddenly felt her words seem to flow right into him, being drawn with the power of a black hole, sinking deep into a power as strong as hers had been at her peak. Gasping, she blinked and forced her eyes to focus as the man knelt at her side.
Shiny government shoes, cheap government suit, trench coat, gun holster, dark hair and eyes, big hands and gentle motions, Eden saw, and felt herself beginning to cry. She’d brought this on herself. She’d used her power on this man before, Officer Parkman, and he’d recognize it. He’d kill her.
“Protect me,” she said, and felt the powerful pull again. Staring, eyes wide with panic and fear, she felt something more than her power being pulled along, being drawn behind Parkman’s eyes.
Who hurt you, girl? You can’t take care of yourself out here, Eden.
She trembled in every limb as he pulled her into his arms, cradling her like a child. He petted her hair absently with one hand as he took her into the building and walked up the stairs. The pull on her was stronger than ever, as if merely speaking to Parkman had given him a hook into her soul.
Once inside his apartment, he sat her down on the floor of the bathroom, and she crouched on all fours, too weak to think about standing. Looking up at him, wet eyes crying with pain and hope and fear, he took her head into his hands, and stroked her temples with his thumbs.
“Eden, I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to take care of you, pretty girl. You just behave yourself, and everything will be ok. I’ll protect you,” he promised. Eden heard every word drilling deep inside of her, sounding like her own voice in her mind, deeply and irresistibly compelling.
Shuddering, Eden saw her new beginning in his eyes.
Author: jaune_chat
Fandom: Heroes
Characters/Pairing: Matt, Eden
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of abuse.
Word Count: 594
Spoilers: Season 1, takes place in “Five Years Gone” verse with Government Agent Evil!Matt.
Warnings: Violence. Abuse of abilities. Bogarting of canon (Eden didn’t die!).
Inspiration: tiny ghost Maybe In Time.
Disclaimer: Heroes is owned by Tim Kring, NBC, et al.
Author's Notes: This is a prequel to Stray. Written for the heroesghostsfic Crown Chakra Fic Jam.
Summary: Eden wants to persuade someone to help her. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
She could feel her own bones, see them almost poking through her thin flesh. Too many days on the run, the danger too great to even stop to eat, had left her wasted and wan. Too many blows unsuccessfully dodged had turned her skin into a patchwork of purple and green, and every movement ached.
Too many screams for people to stop, to leave her alone, had left her throat ragged and torn. The world was full of desperate, scared people, all of them too willing to believe that even the most innocent-seeming of faces was harboring one of the deadly abilities that had changed the face of the world.
The fact that Eden did have an ability had only made things worse. She’d persuade one person to leave her alone, and three more that had been out of range would call the dogs on her. So she’d run, farther and harder than she ever had before.
Until she couldn’t run anymore.
Exhausted, she sank onto the ground of the alley, her mind quiet and slow. People passed her by, ignoring her faint cries for help, cries that she was afraid to put any power into, not certain if she had any power left to give. But then he came.
Tall, strong, he looked like he could protect her from the world.
“Help me,” she cried, putting her last strength into her words. Just a spark, her last spark, maybe just enough to persuade this man to help her up, maybe give her some food, not hurt her. She didn’t want to control him; that’s what had gotten her to this state.
He turned towards her, and she suddenly felt her words seem to flow right into him, being drawn with the power of a black hole, sinking deep into a power as strong as hers had been at her peak. Gasping, she blinked and forced her eyes to focus as the man knelt at her side.
Shiny government shoes, cheap government suit, trench coat, gun holster, dark hair and eyes, big hands and gentle motions, Eden saw, and felt herself beginning to cry. She’d brought this on herself. She’d used her power on this man before, Officer Parkman, and he’d recognize it. He’d kill her.
“Protect me,” she said, and felt the powerful pull again. Staring, eyes wide with panic and fear, she felt something more than her power being pulled along, being drawn behind Parkman’s eyes.
Who hurt you, girl? You can’t take care of yourself out here, Eden.
She trembled in every limb as he pulled her into his arms, cradling her like a child. He petted her hair absently with one hand as he took her into the building and walked up the stairs. The pull on her was stronger than ever, as if merely speaking to Parkman had given him a hook into her soul.
Once inside his apartment, he sat her down on the floor of the bathroom, and she crouched on all fours, too weak to think about standing. Looking up at him, wet eyes crying with pain and hope and fear, he took her head into his hands, and stroked her temples with his thumbs.
“Eden, I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to take care of you, pretty girl. You just behave yourself, and everything will be ok. I’ll protect you,” he promised. Eden heard every word drilling deep inside of her, sounding like her own voice in her mind, deeply and irresistibly compelling.
Shuddering, Eden saw her new beginning in his eyes.