Apathy In Action: Part 3
Characters: Adam, Mohinder, Elle
Rating: PG-13
Words: 3222
Summary: Mohinder goes to Hartsdale to demand the shadowy head of Primatech ot reassign his friend. Little does he know it's his friend from the night before...
A/N: I have been stuck on a plot point in this for months, but I have FINALLY resolved it! I am so so so so sorry for the delay. This is for carmexgirl's Sweet Charity. I think going forward, this should flow much more smoothly and quickly! Love you, dear! Unfortunately, this chapter continues the set-up (I know, I don't know why this requires so much) but after this, it'll hopefully be a lot of fun. I am dorkily excited. :)
Part 1 Part 2
After the surprises and events of the previous night, Adam spent the next morning almost like any other. His car came to pick him up at his townhouse at 9:30am and he was in the office by 10:15am. Adam didn’t believe in getting up too early. The usual items were waiting for him: a perfectly brewed cup of tea, three newspapers, a schedule of the day’s responsibilities, and some compiled updates from the heads of all the divisions.
Adam leaned back in his chair. Today, he was ignoring all that. Instead, he reached for the one item that wasn’t quite normal. There was a thin manila envelope on top of the newspapers. That idiot Brian Greene had come through, after all with his report on Mohinder Suresh. He’d done a thorough job, too. By the end of an hour and a half, there were few facts Adam didn’t know about the man---his childhood, his schooling, his resume, his travel history, his activities since moving to New York, the people he spent the most time with---they were all documented.
Adam had just finished reading and had tucked the folder into his desk drawer when he heard a commotion outside. Someone was yelling and failing to be calmed by what Adam recognized as Mayhews’s impassioned pleas to be reasonable. Curious about the cause of the ruckus, Adam got up and opened his door just enough to peer through it.
He was surprised to see the very man he’d spent the night thinking about and the morning reading about making a scene in the corridor.
“I demand to see the head of this organization!” he was yelling. Adam chuckled to himself at Mohinder’s arrogance. He, a minion demanding to see a man who was barely ever seen by anyone. Adam found it cute.
“Everything alright out here?” he asked sweetly, after opening the door a little wider. Mayhews immediately turned around, distraught.
“I’m so sorry, sir, for this disturb---” Mayhews began, but Mohinder, who’d momentarily been shocked into silence by Adam’s appearance, had finally found his voice again.
“You!” he cried.
Adam came out of his office and leaned against the door with crossed arms. “Hardly a polite greeting, Mohinder, especially after the way you ran off last night.”
“I’ll get rid of this man, Mr. Monroe,” Mayhews tried again, in an effort to control the situation.
Adam waved him away. “There’s no need. I’ll speak to him. Come in, Mohinder, and have a seat.”
Mohinder followed Adam into the office. Adam motioned towards the large sofa in the corner, and they sat side by side.
“So, how can I help you, Dr. Suresh?” he asked, studying the living object that he’d just finished studying on paper.
Mohinder simply looked dazed. “Hi…” he began, but trailed off. The contrast between a moment ago and now was obviously too great. Adam liked to see that he had the power to render Mohinder speechless.
“Well, that’s more like it. A polite greeting and a handshake.” He followed his words with the gesture. “Now then, what brings you here today?” he continued kindly, and with a twinkle in his eye.
But Mohinder still didn’t see. “What are you… Are you meeting with the head of the company, too?”
“I am many things, but schizophrenic is not one of them,” Adam joked.
Mohinder furrowed his brow. “What? Are you saying… but you’re an accountant!”
This was a sticky wicket, but when cornered, Adam had learned that the best course of action was always to brashly forge through it. “This is rather unpleasant to admit, but I lied to you yesterday. I am not an accountant. In fact, I am the head of this organization, with which last night you seemed so disillusioned.”
Adam stood up and took a bow before sitting down again, enjoying the drop of Mohinder’s jaw.
“What?”
“Sorry, old man, but that’s how I work. It’s a shame we had to get started in our acquaintance with a lie, but I had no idea who I would be meeting at the lab yesterday until I’d already met you,” he said, by way of explanation. It wasn’t good enough for Mohinder, who now rose.
“You… you’re in charge?”
Adam nodded. The man was a lot thicker than he’d realized. How many more times was he going to have to impress the facts upon him?
“Yes. And now, given my rank, tell me what it is you wanted to ask the head of the organization. It must have been quite dire, given the way you were treating my assistant just now.” Adam leaned back into the couch and threw his arm over the back, getting comfortable.
Mohinder stood there and sputtered. Finally, however, he reclaimed control over himself. “I… I was going to demand a change in assignment of one of your agents.”
“Which agent in particular?” Adam feigned innocence. His report had told him all he needed to know about Mohinder’s relationship with the Bishop girl. She’d sustained multiple injuries over the months, and of course, Mohinder was here to free his girlfriend. It was noble, if not annoying.
“Elle Bishop. She has been working on Project X, whatever that is, for months, and it’s killing her. For her own safety, I want her reassigned,” Mohinder said with as much authority as he could muster while still blushing in embarrassment for having been fooled.
Smoothly, Adam replied, “You certainly know a lot about that line of the business for a simple scientist. You don’t even work in this office.”
“Elle… I mean, Miss Bishop is a friend of mine. I started out in her department, as her partner before moving over into my own field of genetic research. We’re still close.”
Adam pursed his lips. “So it would seem.”
There was a pause as he thought about how to handle this. While reading the report, Adam had envisioned a different next meeting, one that was on his terms. Mohinder’s appearance here had thrown all of that out. Still… it wasn’t a total loss. And perhaps Adam could kill two birds with one stone. Yes, that was an idea…
“Fine, then,” he stated as he stood up. “I’ll reassign her. I have heard of Project X---you see, I’m not all that involved in the day-to-day running of the place, so I had no idea your friend was in such danger. I give you my word. The last thing I would want to do is cause you pain.” He reached out to take Mohinder’s hand, and actually managed to hold it for a second before Mohinder realized what he was doing and snatched it away.
“Really?” he asked incredulously. “Just like that?” He’d been gearing for a fight, only to have it pulled out from under him.
“Really.”
Mohinder stepped back towards the door. “Fine then.”
“Stay awhile and talk, will you?” Adam asked, knowing that it would be hopeless but not caring. “You’ve only just arrived.”
Mohinder drew himself up to his full height---which wasn’t any taller than Adam. “No. I… I should leave.”
And with that, he strode out of the room, giving himself only a single glance back. It was an even worse beginning than the previous day, but Adam had a feeling he was about to enjoy himself hugely.
“Mayhews,” he called over the intercom. “Would you come in here, please? Bring everything and start cancelling my appointments. We have a lot of work to do between today and tomorrow.”
********************************************
After his encounter with Adam, Mohinder had returned to the lab for the rest of the day, but he got very little work done. His head hummed with remembrances and confusion. More than anything, he was furious---with himself. There was nothing he hated more than being made a fool of, and Adam, had done it, again. What was it about easy-going, charming liars that Mohinder that Mohinder was so incapable of seeing through.
At any rate, at least the meeting had been productive. For some bizarre reason, Adam seemed to like and respect him. Adam had promised to take Elle off her current project and reassign her to something less lethal. Mohinder knew she’d hate the news, but an angry Elle was better than a dead Elle.
With these satisfying thoughts providing some comfort from the angry ones, Mohinder returned home later that evening to find his new roommate watching television and munching on Doritos.
“Hey, sexy,” she greeted without looking up from her program.
Mohinder gazed around the living room. There were a lot of little changes already. There was a new throw blanket on the couch and a row of tiny girl shoes of various colors and heights lined up beside his own shoes.
“I see you’ve made yourself at home,” he remarked.
“Yep. I hired some guys to move my stuff down from Hartsdale. Like what I’ve done with the place?”
Mohinder peeked into what was now her bedroom on his way to drop his work bag in his room. It had been completely redone in baby blue sheets and curtains. It was definitely nicer than the mish-mash of patterns that had existed previously. The closet door had been left open, and Mohinder could see all of Elle’s crazy clothes hung up inside. The sight made Mohinder smile.
“It looks good,” he replied, and came to sit with her on the couch.
“How was work?” Elle asked, and then giggled, finally looking him in the eyes. “Look at us. We’re already an old married couple.”
“Except without the marriage,” he reminded her. “Work was fine. How did you enjoy your day off?”
“It was great. The moving took awhile, and then after that I just watched TV and ordered pizza. There’s some left in the fridge, if you want it.
“Thanks.”
They lapsed into silence and allowed themselves to be hypnotized by Elle’s awful reality show.
“Yep, and we talk just about as much as old married people,” she muttered.
Meanwhile, Mohinder was debating with himself how to tell her what he’d done. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t like him having meddled as officiously as he had, even though it was for her welfare.
“So, Elle…” he began. “Do you remember that man I told you about last night?”
“Yeah. Hottie McHot Adam the mystery accountant? What about him?”
Slowly, Mohinder answered, “Well, I found out today that he isn’t an accountant at all.”
“Then what is he?”
“He’s the CEO of the company.”
Elle thought about this. “So… does that make him more, or less, hot?”
Mohinder cocked his head and glared at her. “What do you think? He lied to me, Elle. I don’t like being made a fool of.” He suddenly remembered what he had said to Adam at the party, and blushed with embarrassment.
Elle thought for a moment. “You know, I’ve heard a rumor about that. That the head of the company sometimes does that. You know, going around inspecting places and telling people he’s someone else. I’ve never met him; no one has, and that’s how he can do it. That way you never know when you’re being watched.” She made a spooky gesture.
“Yes. That seems to have been what he was doing with me.”
“How’d you find out?” Elle asked.
This was where it would get tricky. “I actually went to Hartsdale today to, um, ask about your case.”
“You what? Why would you do that? It’s none of your business.” Sparks were already flying from her fingertips unbidden, and, under the guise of going to get the pizza, Mohinder had to move to the fridge to get out of the way.
“I’m your friend. That makes it my business,” he explained.
“No, that makes you a snoop and a meddler,” she argued, but after a deep breath, she asked,
So, what happened?”
“I finally got spotted by his assistant or something.” Mohinder left out the part about how he’d been admonished for yelling at everyone in sight. “So, he sent me to the CEO, and guess who was sitting behind the desk?”
“Adam.” Elle reached out to grab the soda on the coffee table. “And?”
“I was very firm about finding a better way to handle this mission. He agreed with me and promised to fix it.”
“How?”
“I have no idea.”
“Which means that he won’t. This is a turnaround. Just last night, you were going off about how no one is to be trusted and the people who run the company are assholes. Now you’re all ‘Adam said he’d do it, so obviously it’ll get done.’ It doesn’t make any sense, but whatever. At least there’s no harm done. I’m still on the case.”
Mohinder thought about that. She had a point. He had absolutely no reason to trust Adam Monroe to take Elle off the case, and yet, for some reason he did.
Elle rolled over to put her head in Mohinder’s lap and continued, “I’m still mad at you, for the record, but it’s sweet of you to care. Just… just don’t do that again. I’ve told you, Mohinder. I really like my job. I don’t care that it can be dangerous.”
Mohinder couldn’t truthfully promise never to get involved again, so he remained silent.
Later on, as he finally got around to warming up the pizza Elle had left him (getting a woman in the house was ironically not going to improve his eating habits, he was realizing), the doorbell rang. Elle ran to open it.
“Hey! This is the Suresh-Bishop residence!” she announced to the messenger outside, and then turned back to grin at Mohinder and added, “I’ve been waiting for a chance to say that all day.”
“I have a package for Mohinder Suresh,” the messenger said.
Elle took it with a smile and shut the door in his face. “Open it, open it!”
“I’m not expecting anything. I have most of my packages sent to the office,” Mohinder mused as he ripped open the envelope. Inside was a print-out of a flight itinerary and a letter. Elle snatched the letter out of his hands and proceeded to read it while he was still wondering why on earth someone had booked him a flight to Berlin for the next evening. Mohinder certainly had no plans of going anywhere.
“You asshole!” Elle suddenly started screaming.
Mohinder looked up in a daze. “What?”
“You asshole! I told you that I wanted to stay on this assignment. I told you that I wanted to get back at the people who attacked me and Jackson. Now… I’m so embarrassed! I’ll bet all the other agents are talking about how I couldn’t handle it and was too much of a wuss and that’s why I got taken off. And for you! You can’t even put your own gun holster on. You’re about as intimidating as a---”
“Elle, what are you talking about?” Mohinder asked again, and moved behind her to read the letter she was holding.
In a nutshell, it was a note from Adam saying that he had taken their conversation that morning very seriously and was dropping Miss Bishop from the project. However, in her place, he was reassigning Mohinder away from the lab back to the agent staff.
…You’ll be met tomorrow evening at the airport by your partner. Sleep well, pack lightly, and good luck. Best regards, Adam Monroe the note finished.
“I didn’t ask for this, I swear,” Mohinder said.
But it was too late. Elle was enraged. “Sure you didn’t. What’s the point of getting me off the assignment only to put you on it? You don’t even have superpowers. You’ll be a total punching bag. You’ll get yourself killed, you idiot. Don’t you see? You went and got uppity, and now they’re going to get rid of you.”
Mohinder felt a cold chill. She was right. That was exactly the sort of thing the company would do. For all his charm, Adam was the man in charge of this heinous operation. Mohinder realized how stupid he had been to let himself fall under his spell, even for a moment. Mohinder curled his fists with anger to think of how Adam must be laughing to himself about this. He’d gotten away with lying to him the previous day about his identity, and now he’d lied to him again. Mohinder had thought that the meeting with Adam had gone remarkably well. He’d thought that Elle would be replaced by someone else, not by himself.
And, ugh, he’d now be paired with Jackson, an idiot if Mohinder had ever met one. The only reason Elle had tolerated him was because he was relatively good-looking, nothing else. Neither of them had a power. And therefore, Mohinder could only assume that she was right; he was being sent to his death for having had the gall to make a scene. Elle had told him about a situation like this before. He couldn’t even run. If he didn’t show up the next day at the airport, Mohinder knew that he’d be tracked down and killed. Elle had told him a story about a situation like that, too.
“I’ll think of something,” Mohinder replied hollowly. Elle scoffed.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be brilliant,” she snapped sardonically, and then stormed into her bedroom. The floorboards shook with the ferocity of her door slamming. Let alone, disgraced and afraid, Mohinder drifted into his bedroom.
It couldn’t have been a more inauspicious first evening of living together.
There was nothing for it but to pack. If he didn’t go, he would be in even greater trouble. Elle was too angry to ask, so Mohinder sat alone in his room trying to remember the kinds of things she usually packed when she went on an international mission.
For her sake, Mohinder tried to put a brave face on it, to seem simultaneously brave yet apologetic for having taken the job that he still didn’t understand why she wanted. It didn’t help. Elle refused to speak a word to him for the rest of the night.
At about 1am and unable to sleep, Mohinder heard footsteps approaching his door and heard Elle ask, “Hey! Can you bring me back some mustard? They don’t make mustard here like they do over there.”
“How did you know I wasn’t asleep?” he asked grumpily, but he knew that this was her way of offering an olive branch.
“I didn’t.” And then she jumped into bed with him. Mohinder rolled his eyes in the darkness.
“So, you don’t even know what you’ll be doing in Berlin, do you?”
Mohinder shook his head in the darkness. “The letter wasn’t particularly forthcoming. I suppose Jackson has the rest of the instructions.”
“Sometimes they don’t let you know until you get there. Then you get some text messages or an email or a fax or something. That’s what this project has been like especially.”
As they exited, Elle pouted at him and then went in for a hug. “Hey, I’m sorry for being a bitch. I know you were trying to help. Don’t get killed, alright?”
“I’ll try,” Mohinder replied grimly.
“And if you see that speedster bitch, break her arm for me, ok?”
“I promise. If, that is, I can catch her.”
On to Part Four...
Rating: PG-13
Words: 3222
Summary: Mohinder goes to Hartsdale to demand the shadowy head of Primatech ot reassign his friend. Little does he know it's his friend from the night before...
A/N: I have been stuck on a plot point in this for months, but I have FINALLY resolved it! I am so so so so sorry for the delay. This is for carmexgirl's Sweet Charity. I think going forward, this should flow much more smoothly and quickly! Love you, dear! Unfortunately, this chapter continues the set-up (I know, I don't know why this requires so much) but after this, it'll hopefully be a lot of fun. I am dorkily excited. :)
Part 1 Part 2
After the surprises and events of the previous night, Adam spent the next morning almost like any other. His car came to pick him up at his townhouse at 9:30am and he was in the office by 10:15am. Adam didn’t believe in getting up too early. The usual items were waiting for him: a perfectly brewed cup of tea, three newspapers, a schedule of the day’s responsibilities, and some compiled updates from the heads of all the divisions.
Adam leaned back in his chair. Today, he was ignoring all that. Instead, he reached for the one item that wasn’t quite normal. There was a thin manila envelope on top of the newspapers. That idiot Brian Greene had come through, after all with his report on Mohinder Suresh. He’d done a thorough job, too. By the end of an hour and a half, there were few facts Adam didn’t know about the man---his childhood, his schooling, his resume, his travel history, his activities since moving to New York, the people he spent the most time with---they were all documented.
Adam had just finished reading and had tucked the folder into his desk drawer when he heard a commotion outside. Someone was yelling and failing to be calmed by what Adam recognized as Mayhews’s impassioned pleas to be reasonable. Curious about the cause of the ruckus, Adam got up and opened his door just enough to peer through it.
He was surprised to see the very man he’d spent the night thinking about and the morning reading about making a scene in the corridor.
“I demand to see the head of this organization!” he was yelling. Adam chuckled to himself at Mohinder’s arrogance. He, a minion demanding to see a man who was barely ever seen by anyone. Adam found it cute.
“Everything alright out here?” he asked sweetly, after opening the door a little wider. Mayhews immediately turned around, distraught.
“I’m so sorry, sir, for this disturb---” Mayhews began, but Mohinder, who’d momentarily been shocked into silence by Adam’s appearance, had finally found his voice again.
“You!” he cried.
Adam came out of his office and leaned against the door with crossed arms. “Hardly a polite greeting, Mohinder, especially after the way you ran off last night.”
“I’ll get rid of this man, Mr. Monroe,” Mayhews tried again, in an effort to control the situation.
Adam waved him away. “There’s no need. I’ll speak to him. Come in, Mohinder, and have a seat.”
Mohinder followed Adam into the office. Adam motioned towards the large sofa in the corner, and they sat side by side.
“So, how can I help you, Dr. Suresh?” he asked, studying the living object that he’d just finished studying on paper.
Mohinder simply looked dazed. “Hi…” he began, but trailed off. The contrast between a moment ago and now was obviously too great. Adam liked to see that he had the power to render Mohinder speechless.
“Well, that’s more like it. A polite greeting and a handshake.” He followed his words with the gesture. “Now then, what brings you here today?” he continued kindly, and with a twinkle in his eye.
But Mohinder still didn’t see. “What are you… Are you meeting with the head of the company, too?”
“I am many things, but schizophrenic is not one of them,” Adam joked.
Mohinder furrowed his brow. “What? Are you saying… but you’re an accountant!”
This was a sticky wicket, but when cornered, Adam had learned that the best course of action was always to brashly forge through it. “This is rather unpleasant to admit, but I lied to you yesterday. I am not an accountant. In fact, I am the head of this organization, with which last night you seemed so disillusioned.”
Adam stood up and took a bow before sitting down again, enjoying the drop of Mohinder’s jaw.
“What?”
“Sorry, old man, but that’s how I work. It’s a shame we had to get started in our acquaintance with a lie, but I had no idea who I would be meeting at the lab yesterday until I’d already met you,” he said, by way of explanation. It wasn’t good enough for Mohinder, who now rose.
“You… you’re in charge?”
Adam nodded. The man was a lot thicker than he’d realized. How many more times was he going to have to impress the facts upon him?
“Yes. And now, given my rank, tell me what it is you wanted to ask the head of the organization. It must have been quite dire, given the way you were treating my assistant just now.” Adam leaned back into the couch and threw his arm over the back, getting comfortable.
Mohinder stood there and sputtered. Finally, however, he reclaimed control over himself. “I… I was going to demand a change in assignment of one of your agents.”
“Which agent in particular?” Adam feigned innocence. His report had told him all he needed to know about Mohinder’s relationship with the Bishop girl. She’d sustained multiple injuries over the months, and of course, Mohinder was here to free his girlfriend. It was noble, if not annoying.
“Elle Bishop. She has been working on Project X, whatever that is, for months, and it’s killing her. For her own safety, I want her reassigned,” Mohinder said with as much authority as he could muster while still blushing in embarrassment for having been fooled.
Smoothly, Adam replied, “You certainly know a lot about that line of the business for a simple scientist. You don’t even work in this office.”
“Elle… I mean, Miss Bishop is a friend of mine. I started out in her department, as her partner before moving over into my own field of genetic research. We’re still close.”
Adam pursed his lips. “So it would seem.”
There was a pause as he thought about how to handle this. While reading the report, Adam had envisioned a different next meeting, one that was on his terms. Mohinder’s appearance here had thrown all of that out. Still… it wasn’t a total loss. And perhaps Adam could kill two birds with one stone. Yes, that was an idea…
“Fine, then,” he stated as he stood up. “I’ll reassign her. I have heard of Project X---you see, I’m not all that involved in the day-to-day running of the place, so I had no idea your friend was in such danger. I give you my word. The last thing I would want to do is cause you pain.” He reached out to take Mohinder’s hand, and actually managed to hold it for a second before Mohinder realized what he was doing and snatched it away.
“Really?” he asked incredulously. “Just like that?” He’d been gearing for a fight, only to have it pulled out from under him.
“Really.”
Mohinder stepped back towards the door. “Fine then.”
“Stay awhile and talk, will you?” Adam asked, knowing that it would be hopeless but not caring. “You’ve only just arrived.”
Mohinder drew himself up to his full height---which wasn’t any taller than Adam. “No. I… I should leave.”
And with that, he strode out of the room, giving himself only a single glance back. It was an even worse beginning than the previous day, but Adam had a feeling he was about to enjoy himself hugely.
“Mayhews,” he called over the intercom. “Would you come in here, please? Bring everything and start cancelling my appointments. We have a lot of work to do between today and tomorrow.”
********************************************
After his encounter with Adam, Mohinder had returned to the lab for the rest of the day, but he got very little work done. His head hummed with remembrances and confusion. More than anything, he was furious---with himself. There was nothing he hated more than being made a fool of, and Adam, had done it, again. What was it about easy-going, charming liars that Mohinder that Mohinder was so incapable of seeing through.
At any rate, at least the meeting had been productive. For some bizarre reason, Adam seemed to like and respect him. Adam had promised to take Elle off her current project and reassign her to something less lethal. Mohinder knew she’d hate the news, but an angry Elle was better than a dead Elle.
With these satisfying thoughts providing some comfort from the angry ones, Mohinder returned home later that evening to find his new roommate watching television and munching on Doritos.
“Hey, sexy,” she greeted without looking up from her program.
Mohinder gazed around the living room. There were a lot of little changes already. There was a new throw blanket on the couch and a row of tiny girl shoes of various colors and heights lined up beside his own shoes.
“I see you’ve made yourself at home,” he remarked.
“Yep. I hired some guys to move my stuff down from Hartsdale. Like what I’ve done with the place?”
Mohinder peeked into what was now her bedroom on his way to drop his work bag in his room. It had been completely redone in baby blue sheets and curtains. It was definitely nicer than the mish-mash of patterns that had existed previously. The closet door had been left open, and Mohinder could see all of Elle’s crazy clothes hung up inside. The sight made Mohinder smile.
“It looks good,” he replied, and came to sit with her on the couch.
“How was work?” Elle asked, and then giggled, finally looking him in the eyes. “Look at us. We’re already an old married couple.”
“Except without the marriage,” he reminded her. “Work was fine. How did you enjoy your day off?”
“It was great. The moving took awhile, and then after that I just watched TV and ordered pizza. There’s some left in the fridge, if you want it.
“Thanks.”
They lapsed into silence and allowed themselves to be hypnotized by Elle’s awful reality show.
“Yep, and we talk just about as much as old married people,” she muttered.
Meanwhile, Mohinder was debating with himself how to tell her what he’d done. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t like him having meddled as officiously as he had, even though it was for her welfare.
“So, Elle…” he began. “Do you remember that man I told you about last night?”
“Yeah. Hottie McHot Adam the mystery accountant? What about him?”
Slowly, Mohinder answered, “Well, I found out today that he isn’t an accountant at all.”
“Then what is he?”
“He’s the CEO of the company.”
Elle thought about this. “So… does that make him more, or less, hot?”
Mohinder cocked his head and glared at her. “What do you think? He lied to me, Elle. I don’t like being made a fool of.” He suddenly remembered what he had said to Adam at the party, and blushed with embarrassment.
Elle thought for a moment. “You know, I’ve heard a rumor about that. That the head of the company sometimes does that. You know, going around inspecting places and telling people he’s someone else. I’ve never met him; no one has, and that’s how he can do it. That way you never know when you’re being watched.” She made a spooky gesture.
“Yes. That seems to have been what he was doing with me.”
“How’d you find out?” Elle asked.
This was where it would get tricky. “I actually went to Hartsdale today to, um, ask about your case.”
“You what? Why would you do that? It’s none of your business.” Sparks were already flying from her fingertips unbidden, and, under the guise of going to get the pizza, Mohinder had to move to the fridge to get out of the way.
“I’m your friend. That makes it my business,” he explained.
“No, that makes you a snoop and a meddler,” she argued, but after a deep breath, she asked,
So, what happened?”
“I finally got spotted by his assistant or something.” Mohinder left out the part about how he’d been admonished for yelling at everyone in sight. “So, he sent me to the CEO, and guess who was sitting behind the desk?”
“Adam.” Elle reached out to grab the soda on the coffee table. “And?”
“I was very firm about finding a better way to handle this mission. He agreed with me and promised to fix it.”
“How?”
“I have no idea.”
“Which means that he won’t. This is a turnaround. Just last night, you were going off about how no one is to be trusted and the people who run the company are assholes. Now you’re all ‘Adam said he’d do it, so obviously it’ll get done.’ It doesn’t make any sense, but whatever. At least there’s no harm done. I’m still on the case.”
Mohinder thought about that. She had a point. He had absolutely no reason to trust Adam Monroe to take Elle off the case, and yet, for some reason he did.
Elle rolled over to put her head in Mohinder’s lap and continued, “I’m still mad at you, for the record, but it’s sweet of you to care. Just… just don’t do that again. I’ve told you, Mohinder. I really like my job. I don’t care that it can be dangerous.”
Mohinder couldn’t truthfully promise never to get involved again, so he remained silent.
Later on, as he finally got around to warming up the pizza Elle had left him (getting a woman in the house was ironically not going to improve his eating habits, he was realizing), the doorbell rang. Elle ran to open it.
“Hey! This is the Suresh-Bishop residence!” she announced to the messenger outside, and then turned back to grin at Mohinder and added, “I’ve been waiting for a chance to say that all day.”
“I have a package for Mohinder Suresh,” the messenger said.
Elle took it with a smile and shut the door in his face. “Open it, open it!”
“I’m not expecting anything. I have most of my packages sent to the office,” Mohinder mused as he ripped open the envelope. Inside was a print-out of a flight itinerary and a letter. Elle snatched the letter out of his hands and proceeded to read it while he was still wondering why on earth someone had booked him a flight to Berlin for the next evening. Mohinder certainly had no plans of going anywhere.
“You asshole!” Elle suddenly started screaming.
Mohinder looked up in a daze. “What?”
“You asshole! I told you that I wanted to stay on this assignment. I told you that I wanted to get back at the people who attacked me and Jackson. Now… I’m so embarrassed! I’ll bet all the other agents are talking about how I couldn’t handle it and was too much of a wuss and that’s why I got taken off. And for you! You can’t even put your own gun holster on. You’re about as intimidating as a---”
“Elle, what are you talking about?” Mohinder asked again, and moved behind her to read the letter she was holding.
In a nutshell, it was a note from Adam saying that he had taken their conversation that morning very seriously and was dropping Miss Bishop from the project. However, in her place, he was reassigning Mohinder away from the lab back to the agent staff.
…You’ll be met tomorrow evening at the airport by your partner. Sleep well, pack lightly, and good luck. Best regards, Adam Monroe the note finished.
“I didn’t ask for this, I swear,” Mohinder said.
But it was too late. Elle was enraged. “Sure you didn’t. What’s the point of getting me off the assignment only to put you on it? You don’t even have superpowers. You’ll be a total punching bag. You’ll get yourself killed, you idiot. Don’t you see? You went and got uppity, and now they’re going to get rid of you.”
Mohinder felt a cold chill. She was right. That was exactly the sort of thing the company would do. For all his charm, Adam was the man in charge of this heinous operation. Mohinder realized how stupid he had been to let himself fall under his spell, even for a moment. Mohinder curled his fists with anger to think of how Adam must be laughing to himself about this. He’d gotten away with lying to him the previous day about his identity, and now he’d lied to him again. Mohinder had thought that the meeting with Adam had gone remarkably well. He’d thought that Elle would be replaced by someone else, not by himself.
And, ugh, he’d now be paired with Jackson, an idiot if Mohinder had ever met one. The only reason Elle had tolerated him was because he was relatively good-looking, nothing else. Neither of them had a power. And therefore, Mohinder could only assume that she was right; he was being sent to his death for having had the gall to make a scene. Elle had told him about a situation like this before. He couldn’t even run. If he didn’t show up the next day at the airport, Mohinder knew that he’d be tracked down and killed. Elle had told him a story about a situation like that, too.
“I’ll think of something,” Mohinder replied hollowly. Elle scoffed.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be brilliant,” she snapped sardonically, and then stormed into her bedroom. The floorboards shook with the ferocity of her door slamming. Let alone, disgraced and afraid, Mohinder drifted into his bedroom.
It couldn’t have been a more inauspicious first evening of living together.
There was nothing for it but to pack. If he didn’t go, he would be in even greater trouble. Elle was too angry to ask, so Mohinder sat alone in his room trying to remember the kinds of things she usually packed when she went on an international mission.
For her sake, Mohinder tried to put a brave face on it, to seem simultaneously brave yet apologetic for having taken the job that he still didn’t understand why she wanted. It didn’t help. Elle refused to speak a word to him for the rest of the night.
At about 1am and unable to sleep, Mohinder heard footsteps approaching his door and heard Elle ask, “Hey! Can you bring me back some mustard? They don’t make mustard here like they do over there.”
“How did you know I wasn’t asleep?” he asked grumpily, but he knew that this was her way of offering an olive branch.
“I didn’t.” And then she jumped into bed with him. Mohinder rolled his eyes in the darkness.
“So, you don’t even know what you’ll be doing in Berlin, do you?”
Mohinder shook his head in the darkness. “The letter wasn’t particularly forthcoming. I suppose Jackson has the rest of the instructions.”
“Sometimes they don’t let you know until you get there. Then you get some text messages or an email or a fax or something. That’s what this project has been like especially.”
As they exited, Elle pouted at him and then went in for a hug. “Hey, I’m sorry for being a bitch. I know you were trying to help. Don’t get killed, alright?”
“I’ll try,” Mohinder replied grimly.
“And if you see that speedster bitch, break her arm for me, ok?”
“I promise. If, that is, I can catch her.”
On to Part Four...