[ficlet] Interrogation (PG) (for kethni)
A ficlet for kethni's birthday...
Mohinder blinked and immediately regretted it. The whiteness invaded his vision and made snowflakes dance dizzily behind his eyelids. He could feel sweat trickling down his brow, but he couldn't lift his hand to wipe it away, and the salt invaded his eyes with a stinging sensation that made him hiss. He struggled, but his hands were bound by something stronger than mere handcuffs.
He should be able to move, to break whatever was binding him. Why couldn't he?
"Because I told you you couldn't."
He had to wince as he squinted now, but eventually his eyes became accustomed to the light: a bare bulb, a desk lamp angled toward him. He craned his neck to look away from it, to see past the bright blotch in his vision and resolve the features of the silhouette that loomed dark and indistinct behind it. "Matt?" he said. His mouth felt dry.
"Do you remember what you did last night?" The voice was undoubtedly Matt's, but the dark shape refused to resolve.
"What I... oh. That was you, then? I thought it was..."
"I know what you thought it was," Matt said, and Mohinder could see a dark paw rise up to rub the crown of his head. "You said 'now I've got you, Sylar,' and beat the shit out of me."
"I did?" The light was still making him dizzy. "Then how did I..."
"You may have improved your body," Matt said, "but I've been improving my mind. Or did you even think to ask what had happened to me?"
His head was ringing now. So much had happened. Sylar, Maya, the serum, then the whole thing with...
"And the whole time you just conveniently forgot you were living with someone else and that guy was missing." The disgust in Matt's voice was palpable. "And then you send away his daughter without even talking to him. Or even trying to find him."
When Matt got up and paced the room, his footsteps echoed hollowly inside Mohinder's skull. "Instead, you're shacking up with some strange girl and injecting yourself with drugs. You're a real piece of work, Mohinder. What the hell happened to you?"
Finally, something he knew the answer to. "Sylar," he said, ignoring the nausea that ripped through him at his own voice. "Sylar happened. I didn't have the luxury of time, Matt. I had to send her away for her own safety."
"And then go to work in Mohinder's First Meth Lab." The timeline had begun to piece itself together in Mohinder's head, and he was about to ask when Matt snorted. "I dragged the information out of you last night before you passed out. And by the way, I'll be asking the questions."
He slammed a hand down on the desk, making the lamp jump. The bulb seared a new piece of his retina, and Mohinder howled, closing his eyes.
"Open your eyes." The voice was close. Far closer than before. Mohinder obeyed.
Matt's face was in the light now, and it was worn with a hardness and fierceness that Mohinder had never seen in his face before. What had he been through, Mohinder wondered, to change him like this?
"I'm asking the questions," Matt reminded him. His scowl was darker than any thundercloud Mohinder had ever seen. Now it darkened even further, and his lips curled like a wild animal's snarl. "Where's Molly?"
Cornered and helpless, Mohinder gave in to rage. "I told you," he snapped, "I sent her away for her safety. And if you've turned into a mental manipulator it seems to me you're the last person who should know where she is."
For a moment he thought Matt was going to strike him. The arm raised, the face darkened.
But Matt just straightened up. "Serum hasn't taken the attitude out of you," he said. "You were always impossible to reason with."
"So, what? You're going to drag her location out of me like I'm some rag doll you can abuse?" Mohinder struggled again against his bonds. "Have you really taken my strength away just by telling my mind that I'm weak? It seems to me I should be able to get through such a block with intense concentration."
"Which you don't have," Matt said. "As much as you try to pretend to the contrary. But no, I'm not going to drag it out of your head. You're going to tell me."
"Why not?" Mohinder scowled. "Why not just be a big bully?"
"Because I'm still human," Matt said, pounding the table again. "Can I say the same for you?"
At this, Mohinder was silent. He wasn't really sure of the answer to that question.
"Do you know where I've been for the past three weeks?" Matt went on. "Africa. I've been in AFRICA. How the hell did I get to Africa? I'm not sure. I think it had something to do with Peter Petrelli. It doesn't matter. I was thrown halfway across the world and it has taken me through hell and a half to get back here. I went through it," he said, leaning forward into the light again so Mohinder could see the iron in his eyes, "for one reason. One reason, Mohinder, do you know what that was?"
The word was strangely tremulous. "Molly."
"That's right. Molly. You know, I screwed up with that girl, but I made it right. I saved her from my dad. Are you going to make it right, Mohinder? Are you going to explain to her why you wouldn't even tell me where you'd sent her?"
"I'd tell her you've become dangerous." Mohinder looked at him derisively. "Not to be trusted."
"That's pretty funny, coming from you." Matt paused-- trying, Mohinder guessed, to decide where to go next. Finally he decided. "So who's this new girl in your life? Or are you now wearing lacy pink bras yourself?"
"Maya." Mohinder's eyes went round. "What have you done to her?"
"I told her to take a walk," Matt said. "Her mind's very simple. But I suppose you didn't want her for her mind."
Mohinder struggled. "Don't talk about her like--"
"--like she's someone you slept with after knowing her 48 hours?"
Anger spun within him like a spit over a fire. "I'd think you'd be relieved. I don't need to read your mind to know what you were afraid of. Every time we were in the same room, you kept glancing at me like you were afraid--"
Matt began to laugh. "That's rich, Mohinder, that's fucking rich. Afraid? Jesus. Afraid. I'm not the one shagging strangers and taking serums just to prove I'm no different from anyone else. You're ugly when you're jealous, you know that?"
"Screw you," Mohinder muttered under his breath. His cheeks were red.
"No, screw you," Matt thundered. "Screw your inferiority complex and your complete stupidity when it comes to Molly's well-being. How could you possibly think she'd be better off with neither of us in her life?"
"I told you, it was for her safety."
"I don't believe you."
"I don't care if you don't believe me--"
"What the hell are you so afraid of, Mohinder, that you'd do this to yourself? For God's sake, tell the truth!"
And Mohinder felt his tongue loosen, felt his eyes well up with tears. "Damn you, Matt, I don't want to tell..."
"And I don't want to force you, but this is our daughter's life we're talking about here!" The phrase-- our daughter-- this was the first time he'd ever used it. Mohinder took in a sharp breath. The tears were flowing now, and it wasn't just because of the harshness of the light.
"You have no idea," he said softly, "how powerless I've felt. How much I've envied you, and Maya, and Molly, and everyone else we've come in contact with who is so special. I'm nobody, and I could do nothing, and that was never clearer than when Sylar came back. Even though he too was powerless, I could only do what he said. And in the end he got away. I was helpless. I couldn't stop him."
"Go on," murmured Matt, who'd sat down again and was listening somewhere in the recesses of the darkness beyond the white light.
"I don't want to--"
"Go on." A psychic push this time, and Mohinder felt himself stumble and fall, his mind jarred as if by a tripwire. He had no choice.
"I'm weak. I have too many liabilities. How I feel about Molly is one. I had to remove her from the equation. I couldn't let my selfish desire to keep her close ruin me. Sylar would not harm her or hold her hostage again. That was my fear. So I sent her away."
"Why won't you tell me where she is?" Matt pleaded. For the first time, there was a note of sympathy in his voice.
There was no push behind the words, but he couldn't help it. It horrified him, but he couldn't help it.
"Because if you go to her, there is no force in the world that will be able to keep me from you both. The two of you are too powerful a temptation for me, Matt. You were right. Everything you were afraid of, it was true. I'm sorry." He hung his head, shut his eyes against the light and felt the tears squeeze through his eyelids in hot torrents.
After a moment of silence, Matt spoke again, and his voice was still soft. "So you tried to make up for it by sleeping with this Maya girl?" he asked.
"I thought it was the most natural way. I couldn't..." He caught his breath.
"You used her." The dark, hard tone again.
"Yes, I did." Mohinder sighed. "I thought it was the right thing to do. She's beautiful, and I thought it was only the right thing to eliminate all of my liabilities."
"You really are a piece of work," Matt said, but the edge to his tone was different somehow. Mohinder looked up as the body in the darkness moved forward and finally-- thankfully-- blocked the light.
:probably the end:
I may or may not revise and extend further -- i am going home from work now and will be on hubby's computer so less time to finish. heh.
Mohinder blinked and immediately regretted it. The whiteness invaded his vision and made snowflakes dance dizzily behind his eyelids. He could feel sweat trickling down his brow, but he couldn't lift his hand to wipe it away, and the salt invaded his eyes with a stinging sensation that made him hiss. He struggled, but his hands were bound by something stronger than mere handcuffs.
He should be able to move, to break whatever was binding him. Why couldn't he?
"Because I told you you couldn't."
He had to wince as he squinted now, but eventually his eyes became accustomed to the light: a bare bulb, a desk lamp angled toward him. He craned his neck to look away from it, to see past the bright blotch in his vision and resolve the features of the silhouette that loomed dark and indistinct behind it. "Matt?" he said. His mouth felt dry.
"Do you remember what you did last night?" The voice was undoubtedly Matt's, but the dark shape refused to resolve.
"What I... oh. That was you, then? I thought it was..."
"I know what you thought it was," Matt said, and Mohinder could see a dark paw rise up to rub the crown of his head. "You said 'now I've got you, Sylar,' and beat the shit out of me."
"I did?" The light was still making him dizzy. "Then how did I..."
"You may have improved your body," Matt said, "but I've been improving my mind. Or did you even think to ask what had happened to me?"
His head was ringing now. So much had happened. Sylar, Maya, the serum, then the whole thing with...
"And the whole time you just conveniently forgot you were living with someone else and that guy was missing." The disgust in Matt's voice was palpable. "And then you send away his daughter without even talking to him. Or even trying to find him."
When Matt got up and paced the room, his footsteps echoed hollowly inside Mohinder's skull. "Instead, you're shacking up with some strange girl and injecting yourself with drugs. You're a real piece of work, Mohinder. What the hell happened to you?"
Finally, something he knew the answer to. "Sylar," he said, ignoring the nausea that ripped through him at his own voice. "Sylar happened. I didn't have the luxury of time, Matt. I had to send her away for her own safety."
"And then go to work in Mohinder's First Meth Lab." The timeline had begun to piece itself together in Mohinder's head, and he was about to ask when Matt snorted. "I dragged the information out of you last night before you passed out. And by the way, I'll be asking the questions."
He slammed a hand down on the desk, making the lamp jump. The bulb seared a new piece of his retina, and Mohinder howled, closing his eyes.
"Open your eyes." The voice was close. Far closer than before. Mohinder obeyed.
Matt's face was in the light now, and it was worn with a hardness and fierceness that Mohinder had never seen in his face before. What had he been through, Mohinder wondered, to change him like this?
"I'm asking the questions," Matt reminded him. His scowl was darker than any thundercloud Mohinder had ever seen. Now it darkened even further, and his lips curled like a wild animal's snarl. "Where's Molly?"
Cornered and helpless, Mohinder gave in to rage. "I told you," he snapped, "I sent her away for her safety. And if you've turned into a mental manipulator it seems to me you're the last person who should know where she is."
For a moment he thought Matt was going to strike him. The arm raised, the face darkened.
But Matt just straightened up. "Serum hasn't taken the attitude out of you," he said. "You were always impossible to reason with."
"So, what? You're going to drag her location out of me like I'm some rag doll you can abuse?" Mohinder struggled again against his bonds. "Have you really taken my strength away just by telling my mind that I'm weak? It seems to me I should be able to get through such a block with intense concentration."
"Which you don't have," Matt said. "As much as you try to pretend to the contrary. But no, I'm not going to drag it out of your head. You're going to tell me."
"Why not?" Mohinder scowled. "Why not just be a big bully?"
"Because I'm still human," Matt said, pounding the table again. "Can I say the same for you?"
At this, Mohinder was silent. He wasn't really sure of the answer to that question.
"Do you know where I've been for the past three weeks?" Matt went on. "Africa. I've been in AFRICA. How the hell did I get to Africa? I'm not sure. I think it had something to do with Peter Petrelli. It doesn't matter. I was thrown halfway across the world and it has taken me through hell and a half to get back here. I went through it," he said, leaning forward into the light again so Mohinder could see the iron in his eyes, "for one reason. One reason, Mohinder, do you know what that was?"
The word was strangely tremulous. "Molly."
"That's right. Molly. You know, I screwed up with that girl, but I made it right. I saved her from my dad. Are you going to make it right, Mohinder? Are you going to explain to her why you wouldn't even tell me where you'd sent her?"
"I'd tell her you've become dangerous." Mohinder looked at him derisively. "Not to be trusted."
"That's pretty funny, coming from you." Matt paused-- trying, Mohinder guessed, to decide where to go next. Finally he decided. "So who's this new girl in your life? Or are you now wearing lacy pink bras yourself?"
"Maya." Mohinder's eyes went round. "What have you done to her?"
"I told her to take a walk," Matt said. "Her mind's very simple. But I suppose you didn't want her for her mind."
Mohinder struggled. "Don't talk about her like--"
"--like she's someone you slept with after knowing her 48 hours?"
Anger spun within him like a spit over a fire. "I'd think you'd be relieved. I don't need to read your mind to know what you were afraid of. Every time we were in the same room, you kept glancing at me like you were afraid--"
Matt began to laugh. "That's rich, Mohinder, that's fucking rich. Afraid? Jesus. Afraid. I'm not the one shagging strangers and taking serums just to prove I'm no different from anyone else. You're ugly when you're jealous, you know that?"
"Screw you," Mohinder muttered under his breath. His cheeks were red.
"No, screw you," Matt thundered. "Screw your inferiority complex and your complete stupidity when it comes to Molly's well-being. How could you possibly think she'd be better off with neither of us in her life?"
"I told you, it was for her safety."
"I don't believe you."
"I don't care if you don't believe me--"
"What the hell are you so afraid of, Mohinder, that you'd do this to yourself? For God's sake, tell the truth!"
And Mohinder felt his tongue loosen, felt his eyes well up with tears. "Damn you, Matt, I don't want to tell..."
"And I don't want to force you, but this is our daughter's life we're talking about here!" The phrase-- our daughter-- this was the first time he'd ever used it. Mohinder took in a sharp breath. The tears were flowing now, and it wasn't just because of the harshness of the light.
"You have no idea," he said softly, "how powerless I've felt. How much I've envied you, and Maya, and Molly, and everyone else we've come in contact with who is so special. I'm nobody, and I could do nothing, and that was never clearer than when Sylar came back. Even though he too was powerless, I could only do what he said. And in the end he got away. I was helpless. I couldn't stop him."
"Go on," murmured Matt, who'd sat down again and was listening somewhere in the recesses of the darkness beyond the white light.
"I don't want to--"
"Go on." A psychic push this time, and Mohinder felt himself stumble and fall, his mind jarred as if by a tripwire. He had no choice.
"I'm weak. I have too many liabilities. How I feel about Molly is one. I had to remove her from the equation. I couldn't let my selfish desire to keep her close ruin me. Sylar would not harm her or hold her hostage again. That was my fear. So I sent her away."
"Why won't you tell me where she is?" Matt pleaded. For the first time, there was a note of sympathy in his voice.
There was no push behind the words, but he couldn't help it. It horrified him, but he couldn't help it.
"Because if you go to her, there is no force in the world that will be able to keep me from you both. The two of you are too powerful a temptation for me, Matt. You were right. Everything you were afraid of, it was true. I'm sorry." He hung his head, shut his eyes against the light and felt the tears squeeze through his eyelids in hot torrents.
After a moment of silence, Matt spoke again, and his voice was still soft. "So you tried to make up for it by sleeping with this Maya girl?" he asked.
"I thought it was the most natural way. I couldn't..." He caught his breath.
"You used her." The dark, hard tone again.
"Yes, I did." Mohinder sighed. "I thought it was the right thing to do. She's beautiful, and I thought it was only the right thing to eliminate all of my liabilities."
"You really are a piece of work," Matt said, but the edge to his tone was different somehow. Mohinder looked up as the body in the darkness moved forward and finally-- thankfully-- blocked the light.
:probably the end:
I may or may not revise and extend further -- i am going home from work now and will be on hubby's computer so less time to finish. heh.