[Heroes] [Gen] [T] Equal Partners
Title: Equal Partners
Rating: Teenish
Genre: Gen, Partner-fic
Characters: Matt, Audrey
Length: 1,200 words
A/N: My first Heroes fic!
Summary: Audrey learns to project her thoughts when it’s useful. It’s surprising how often it’s useful.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to the two lovely people who beta-read it, pixie_on_acid and daisycm83. The smallest changes can make the biggest difference. Thank you for your logic and insight.
Equal Partners
It’s not her first experience with the disparity between what the government knows and what the government admits to the public, so it’s no great surprise to Audrey when she gets called into the meeting. Sylar and Ted Sprague may be the only super-powered criminals on the Bureau’s radar, but as she learns from representatives of the CIA, Interpol, and Homeland Security, they are not the only super-powered criminals.
When she is asked to be the Bureau’s representative to the interagency task force, she takes a chance and asks to speak to her boss privately. Audrey tells him that the problem is obviously bigger than they thought and that Parkman is an asset the Bureau can’t afford to have snatched away. They need to secure him, before they are bound by an agreement to share the information about him with other agencies. In short, she tells him, Matt Parkman needs an FBI badge.
Parkman is the best partner Audrey has ever had.
They work well together, complement one another’s strengths. Where she is logical and quick-thinking, he has an insight into people that she lacks. And Parkman has a natural ability to make people comfortable. He puts witnesses at ease and guides them as they search their memories for small details they may have missed. Audrey takes those details and fits them into the puzzle. They make a good team.
It doesn’t take them long to fall into a comfortable routine. He learns to tune out Audrey’s stray thoughts (or at least, he learns to hide it - he never admits to hearing them), and she learns to project her thoughts when it’s useful. It’s surprising how often it’s useful.
It’s been a rough twenty-four hours for Audrey. She got called in and had to stand up her date - notably the only date she’s had in a good six months. She and Parkman have been on a fruitless stakeout for the last ten hours, stuck in a car during a heat wave. Even at night, the temperature is like an oven. And on top of everything, she’s got that cranky feeling that signals oncoming PMS. He pulls into a convenience store - the only thing around open in the predawn hours - to grab something for breakfast before they go file their reports.
“You want something?” he asks, leaning in the open car door.
“No,” she snaps, not because she isn’t hungry, but just because she’s too irritable to figure out what she wants. He smiles with that infuriatingly understanding smile and walks inside. She watches him crossly for a minute, then thinks chocolate donut, chocolate donut, chocolate donut…
He slides back into the car and silently hands her two chocolate donuts and a cup of hot tea.
Parkman tells her he hears no thoughts coming from the house, but it’s possible the fugitive is sleeping or watching something particularly mindless on TV. Audrey signals for him to cover the back door, while she creeps through the front.
She clears each room in turn, breathing out a frustrated sigh when she enters the final door and finds no one. She turns to go and is taken by surprise when a muscular arm locks around her throat. She is lifted off the ground.
Audrey tries to cry out as she struggles, but he is choking her and she can barely make a sound. Her mind is focused on fighting him and later she wonders what in her jumble of thoughts Parkman might have heard - damn it, no, fight, he’s too strong, help, Matt, no. The one thought she knows he caught was I’m going to die.
There is a gunshot, Hawkins vanishes, and she hears her partner’s voice as she falls to the ground: “Not today.”
The boss is tearing them a new one over the bystanders injured at the factory, and Parkman is clearly taking it hard. Audrey wishes she would’ve had a minute to talk to him before they got called in, because she’s afraid of what he’ll do. She keeps her eyes straight ahead while the boss spouts off about the possibility of inquiries and reprimands, but her mind is elsewhere.
If you even think about resigning, I’m going to kill you, Parkman.
He doesn’t give her any indication that she can stop worrying. That would be unlike him if she really had nothing to worry about.
I keep telling you, partner, you’re a telepath, not a psychic. There’s no way you could’ve known what Sylar had planned. There’s no way you could’ve stopped it.
She hears him give a soft, almost imperceptible sigh. He knows she’s right, but he’s still beating himself up.
Arrogant S.O.B.
He shoots her a quick, surprised look before turning back to the boss.
You think you get to take more of the blame for this than I do? What kind of chauvinist pig are you?
He drops his head to hide the smile.
Matt holds her tight and Audrey presses her cheek against his shoulder. He kisses the top of her head and strokes a hand gently through her hair.
Linderman’s thugs have them locked in a darkened office at the back of the casino, but though they are alone, they suspect they are being watched. They don’t know for sure that their cover is blown, so they keep up the pretense.
The door swings open to reveal two armed men. “You,” he says, pointing at Audrey. “Come with me.”
She starts to move away, but Parkman doesn’t let her go. He pushes her behind him protectively, and for a split-second she wonders if this is the cover or if this is him. “Where are you taking her?”
“Shut up and step back,” the man says as his partner moves forward menacingly.
“You’re not taking my wife anywhere without me.”
The sound of flesh hitting flesh is loud in her ears as he doubles over. He doesn’t give them the satisfaction of making him groan. Aloud, she pleads with him not to fight them as they drag her away. Silently, she tells him I can’t wait to slap the cuffs on that son of a bitch.
They got lucky when the goons decided to take her first. They take her to another office where Ms. Sakamoto calmly and politely interrogates her. She asks questions about Audrey’s marriage, her husband, their past, and exactly how they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the questions go beyond the cover story they prepared, Audrey makes up anything that comes to mind and feeds Parkman the information.
Sakamoto leaves to confirm Audrey’s story with Parkman. Audrey waits patiently for her to return, trusting that Matt knows what he needs to say. Soon, they are able to leave with their cover - and their limbs - intact, and the smug satisfaction of a narrow escape.
As she drives away, Matt tugs the seatbelt away from his abdomen with a rueful smile. “What the hell was that Macho Man move back there, Parkman?” Audrey asks him with a laugh.
He shrugs nonchalantly and glances out the window, but she knows he’s hiding a wicked grin. “I could ask you the same thing about the Damsel in Distress routine. I think you got mascara on my shirt.”
Parkman is the best partner Audrey has ever had. She’d never tell him so, but she’s pretty sure he knows.
The End
Rating: Teenish
Genre: Gen, Partner-fic
Characters: Matt, Audrey
Length: 1,200 words
A/N: My first Heroes fic!
Summary: Audrey learns to project her thoughts when it’s useful. It’s surprising how often it’s useful.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to the two lovely people who beta-read it, pixie_on_acid and daisycm83. The smallest changes can make the biggest difference. Thank you for your logic and insight.
Equal Partners
It’s not her first experience with the disparity between what the government knows and what the government admits to the public, so it’s no great surprise to Audrey when she gets called into the meeting. Sylar and Ted Sprague may be the only super-powered criminals on the Bureau’s radar, but as she learns from representatives of the CIA, Interpol, and Homeland Security, they are not the only super-powered criminals.
When she is asked to be the Bureau’s representative to the interagency task force, she takes a chance and asks to speak to her boss privately. Audrey tells him that the problem is obviously bigger than they thought and that Parkman is an asset the Bureau can’t afford to have snatched away. They need to secure him, before they are bound by an agreement to share the information about him with other agencies. In short, she tells him, Matt Parkman needs an FBI badge.
Parkman is the best partner Audrey has ever had.
They work well together, complement one another’s strengths. Where she is logical and quick-thinking, he has an insight into people that she lacks. And Parkman has a natural ability to make people comfortable. He puts witnesses at ease and guides them as they search their memories for small details they may have missed. Audrey takes those details and fits them into the puzzle. They make a good team.
It doesn’t take them long to fall into a comfortable routine. He learns to tune out Audrey’s stray thoughts (or at least, he learns to hide it - he never admits to hearing them), and she learns to project her thoughts when it’s useful. It’s surprising how often it’s useful.
It’s been a rough twenty-four hours for Audrey. She got called in and had to stand up her date - notably the only date she’s had in a good six months. She and Parkman have been on a fruitless stakeout for the last ten hours, stuck in a car during a heat wave. Even at night, the temperature is like an oven. And on top of everything, she’s got that cranky feeling that signals oncoming PMS. He pulls into a convenience store - the only thing around open in the predawn hours - to grab something for breakfast before they go file their reports.
“You want something?” he asks, leaning in the open car door.
“No,” she snaps, not because she isn’t hungry, but just because she’s too irritable to figure out what she wants. He smiles with that infuriatingly understanding smile and walks inside. She watches him crossly for a minute, then thinks chocolate donut, chocolate donut, chocolate donut…
He slides back into the car and silently hands her two chocolate donuts and a cup of hot tea.
Parkman tells her he hears no thoughts coming from the house, but it’s possible the fugitive is sleeping or watching something particularly mindless on TV. Audrey signals for him to cover the back door, while she creeps through the front.
She clears each room in turn, breathing out a frustrated sigh when she enters the final door and finds no one. She turns to go and is taken by surprise when a muscular arm locks around her throat. She is lifted off the ground.
Audrey tries to cry out as she struggles, but he is choking her and she can barely make a sound. Her mind is focused on fighting him and later she wonders what in her jumble of thoughts Parkman might have heard - damn it, no, fight, he’s too strong, help, Matt, no. The one thought she knows he caught was I’m going to die.
There is a gunshot, Hawkins vanishes, and she hears her partner’s voice as she falls to the ground: “Not today.”
The boss is tearing them a new one over the bystanders injured at the factory, and Parkman is clearly taking it hard. Audrey wishes she would’ve had a minute to talk to him before they got called in, because she’s afraid of what he’ll do. She keeps her eyes straight ahead while the boss spouts off about the possibility of inquiries and reprimands, but her mind is elsewhere.
If you even think about resigning, I’m going to kill you, Parkman.
He doesn’t give her any indication that she can stop worrying. That would be unlike him if she really had nothing to worry about.
I keep telling you, partner, you’re a telepath, not a psychic. There’s no way you could’ve known what Sylar had planned. There’s no way you could’ve stopped it.
She hears him give a soft, almost imperceptible sigh. He knows she’s right, but he’s still beating himself up.
Arrogant S.O.B.
He shoots her a quick, surprised look before turning back to the boss.
You think you get to take more of the blame for this than I do? What kind of chauvinist pig are you?
He drops his head to hide the smile.
Matt holds her tight and Audrey presses her cheek against his shoulder. He kisses the top of her head and strokes a hand gently through her hair.
Linderman’s thugs have them locked in a darkened office at the back of the casino, but though they are alone, they suspect they are being watched. They don’t know for sure that their cover is blown, so they keep up the pretense.
The door swings open to reveal two armed men. “You,” he says, pointing at Audrey. “Come with me.”
She starts to move away, but Parkman doesn’t let her go. He pushes her behind him protectively, and for a split-second she wonders if this is the cover or if this is him. “Where are you taking her?”
“Shut up and step back,” the man says as his partner moves forward menacingly.
“You’re not taking my wife anywhere without me.”
The sound of flesh hitting flesh is loud in her ears as he doubles over. He doesn’t give them the satisfaction of making him groan. Aloud, she pleads with him not to fight them as they drag her away. Silently, she tells him I can’t wait to slap the cuffs on that son of a bitch.
They got lucky when the goons decided to take her first. They take her to another office where Ms. Sakamoto calmly and politely interrogates her. She asks questions about Audrey’s marriage, her husband, their past, and exactly how they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the questions go beyond the cover story they prepared, Audrey makes up anything that comes to mind and feeds Parkman the information.
Sakamoto leaves to confirm Audrey’s story with Parkman. Audrey waits patiently for her to return, trusting that Matt knows what he needs to say. Soon, they are able to leave with their cover - and their limbs - intact, and the smug satisfaction of a narrow escape.
As she drives away, Matt tugs the seatbelt away from his abdomen with a rueful smile. “What the hell was that Macho Man move back there, Parkman?” Audrey asks him with a laugh.
He shrugs nonchalantly and glances out the window, but she knows he’s hiding a wicked grin. “I could ask you the same thing about the Damsel in Distress routine. I think you got mascara on my shirt.”
Parkman is the best partner Audrey has ever had. She’d never tell him so, but she’s pretty sure he knows.
The End