Fic: Thrown Together, Ripped Apart - Ch. 7
Title: Thrown Together, Ripped Apart
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Reunited once more, Matt and Mohinder find themselves facing some unexpected challenges in their relationship. (Word Count: 3,332)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Slash, Mpreg, Angst, AU
Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5| Chapter 6
Chapter 7
"Mohinder, I get that you want to give the baby an Indian name and all, but could you at least make sure it's something that I can actually pronounce?"
Mohinder rolled his eyes playfully at Matt's words as he continued to adjust the buttons on his shirt. "You say that about every single name I've picked so far!" he argued. "They're not that hard to say."
"That's kind of an unreliable statement coming from you," he heard Matt say from somewhere just outside their bedroom. "You're a native speaker. Of course all the names sound easy to you."
Mohinder hummed thoughtfully as he looked himself over in the mirror, fighting against the urge to cringe distastefully at his reflection. He looked... fat. No. Not just fat. He looked fat and awkward. His arms and legs may have gained only a couple of pounds in the last few months, but the majority of the baby weight had gone straight to his stomach, causing his abdomen to expand, bulging out in an unappealing manner. He looked as if he had swallowed a whole beach ball and was still slowly digesting it like a snake.
The floorboards creaking alerted him to Matt's presence. Mohinder shifted as he tried to hide his bitter scowl by smoothing out the front of his shirt with his hands. It did nothing to keep his tense mood from Matt's sharp eyes.
"Do we have to go through this every morning?" Matt sighed, crossing the short distance between them to place his hands on Mohinder's arms. "You look fine. You're pregnant. You're supposed to be big and puffy."
"Yes, you can say that because you know I'm pregnant," Mohinder said, swallowing awkwardly as he shrugged Matt's hands off in order to grab his jacket and slip it on. The dark material was sliming, but it still wasn't enough to hide the large growth underneath. "Nobody else knows that," he muttered. "To everyone on the street I look... fat."
"You say that every time you have to go out," Matt pointed out. "If this is upsetting you so much then maybe you shouldn't go into work today."
Mohinder frowned, shaking his head at the suggestion. He wanted nothing more than to stay inside and hide away until after the baby was born, but he couldn't. He had to work; he had to support his family. This new job was paying for the bigger apartment they had moved into, the much needed baby supplies, and would help to take care of the delivery that he still wasn't prepared for.
Yet it didn't stop him from longing for the days when all he had to do to conceal his pregnancy was hide under a few thick layers of clothing. It felt like just yesterday that he had started wearing Matt's shirts in place of his own only to find himself out growing those within a matter of weeks.
"I can't call in," Mohinder said. "Nathan phoned me this morning. He said he had something important to discuss."
Matt stiffened at the senator's name, something that Mohinder had caught him doing quite often recently. Mohinder remembered when Matt and Nathan had been slowly developing an awkward friendship, now the mere hint of the politician was enough to make Matt uncomfortable. Mohinder supposed that Matt, like himself, was still feeling a bit uncomfortable after the entire Building 26 fiasco.
"Nathan's in town?" Matt asked slowly. "What does he want?"
"I don't know," Mohinder told him honestly. "He probably just wants to talk to me about a new project or something of the sort. Speaking of projects, do you think you'll be getting to work on the nursery today?"
Matt groaned, rolling his eyes with sincere weariness at the sudden shift in subject. Mohinder knew that he was being a pain about setting up the nursery, but ever since he had entered his third trimester, the Indian had developed an unshakable sense of anxiety over the baby's impending arrival. Whenever the baby would kick or push at his bulky stomach a wave of nerves would wash over him. He felt so incredibly unprepared and out of control and just wanted to make sure that everything would be ready on time.
"Yes, I'll work on the nursery," Matt mumbled. "But... I just don't get what you want me to do. You want me to fix up the nursery, but put the crib in our room?"
"Yes."
"Mohinder, that doesn't make sense. Shouldn't the baby sleep in the baby's room?"
"When he's ready, yes," Mohinder answered. "After he's born, I want him sleeping in our room with us, that way I can be right there when he needs me."
"That's kinda..." Matt stopped himself, taking a step closer to Mohinder as if worried someone would hear their discussion (a fact made stranger since Molly had left for school a little over an hour ago). "We're not exactly going to have much privacy are we? I mean, what if we want to...?"
"We barely do that anymore," Mohinder grumbled bitterly.
"What do you... oh." Matt's face somehow managed to both blush and pale as understanding slowly dawned on him. "Oh, Mohinder... I didn't... I didn't think you wanted to do that in your condition."
"I do Matt," Mohinder said, worrying his lip in embarrassment. He had been insanely needy recently, but he simply couldn't bring himself to say anything looking the way he did. He was repulsive to his own eyes, he couldn't begin to imagine what Matt must think of him anymore. Mohinder sighed, placing his hands against his swollen stomach. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but... but it's alright. I know you wouldn't be interested with me like this."
A small smile tugged at the corners of Matt's lips as he cupped Mohinder's chin, forcing the smaller man to look at him. "You look so beautiful to me," Matt assured him and as if to prove his point he bent forward to press their lips together in a soft kiss. "Don't think for a second that I don't love the way you look. And, well, if you ever want anything don't be afraid to ask."
Mohinder smiled hopefully, his arms eagerly wrapping themselves around Matt's neck. "Then, when I get home, can we... Oh, Matt. I really need you. It's been so long. I feel as if I'm going to explode."
Matt laughed, kissing him again. "Of course. I wouldn't want you blowing up from sexual frustration."
He leaned forward and kissed him, suddenly unable to get enough of the feel of Matt's lips against his own. "After dinner then," he said, "you and me."
"It's a date," Matt joked.
"And you'll at least set up the crib, won't you?"
"Seriously Mohinder? Calm down! You're thirty weeks, not forty! There's plenty of time before the baby arrives."
"I'm sorry, but being pregnant makes me anxious," he explained. "I just need to be ready and I need you to help me get ready."
Matt sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I get it," he said, although Mohinder already knew that he didn't get it at all. Not that he could blame him. Being pregnant wasn't an easy thing to wrap one's head around. "Now go to work. Be brilliant. I'll stay home and bang some sticks together."
He smiled, offering Matt one last kiss, on his cheek this time, before heading out of the bedroom. He was at the front door, his hands inches away from the knob, when he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to grab his satchel. The Indian sighed, turning around and heading back to their room.
"I forgot my bag," he announced as he walked through the door, but Matt didn't respond. He hadn't moved an inch since Mohinder had left the room. Mohinder frowned as he stared at Matt. He was staring fixatedly at something in the distance in silent horror. Mohinder turned around and followed the other man's gaze only to see that there was nothing. "Is something wrong?" he asked, turning back around to watch Matt's expression.
Matt blinked several times as if waking up from a dream before turning his attention back to Mohinder. "Um, nothing," he said. "Just thinking... about where to put the crib."
Mohinder frowned. He knew Matt well enough to easily see through the painfully obvious lie. "Right there, by the window," he said, pointing to the spot that he had suggested, even marked off, several times before. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
Matt nodded. He looked ready to speak, but stopped himself, choosing to merely swallowing the words in his throat.
"Alright," Mohinder said slowly. He was reluctant to leave, but the fact that he was already several minutes late propelled him towards the door. "I'll see you tonight then."
-+-+-+-
His office was a furnace. He hated staying in there for more than a few minutes, since no matter how many fans he brought in, no matter how much he tweaked the air conditioning, the small corner of the newly reinstated Company was always several degrees too hot for Mohinder's liking.
The Indian sighed; sliding off the thick jacket he had been wearing and placing it to hang on a hook on the wall. He could feel the redness in his cheeks as sweat burned its way down his face. Mohinder walked up to the tall white fan that he had placed in the corner of his office and put it on its highest setting. The fan churned to life slowly, its propellers working to match the speed of the ceiling fan just above it. A few papers fluttered, but he was prepared enough for this situation having already weighed down the files in order to prevent important documents from fluttering around the room like dead leaves on a breezy fall afternoon.
Mohinder frowned, checking the time on his wristwatch. There was still a few minutes left before he had to meet with the senator. He was hot and miserable and suddenly hated Nathan Petrelli for calling him in no matter the reason. Mohinder sighed, loosening the top buttons of his shirt as he flopped down in the leather desk chair. His heat frazzled mind reasoned that it would be perfectly acceptable to just sit back and cool off in his office for a few minutes.
A pleasant smile drifted across his face as the temperature in the room dropped, the air chilling comfortably until the sweat that had been pouring off of every inch of Mohinder's body came to a slow halt. Nathan can wait, he told himself.
No more than a handful of minutes could have passed before the office door swung open. "Suresh... whoa." He frowned, twisting around to watch as Nathan stepped into the office, shuddering against the chill as he buttoned up his suit jacket. "Jeez, Suresh. It's like an ice box in here. Why do you have so many fans going anyway? It's the middle of the fall."
"Are you kidding me?" Mohinder scoffed, sitting up straight. "It feels like the bloody sun in here."
Nathan chuckled, rubbing his hands together for warmth. "Which one of us is from New York and which is from India again?"
He frowned, not at all amused by the comment, as he set to work readjusting himself. "What brings you to my office, Nathan?" Mohinder asked tersely. He was in no mood for playful banter and didn't care if Nathan knew it. "I thought we were going to meet upstairs."
"We were," Nathan confirmed. "I was waiting for you."
Mohinder looked at his watch and saw that the hands had settled upon a few minutes after the time of their agreed upon meeting. "You couldn't have been waiting very long," Mohinder said.
"You're eight and a half minutes late," Nathan chided. "Your watch must be slow."
He shrugged indifferently. It didn't really matter one way or the other since whatever it was that Nathan wanted to discuss with him could very easily be talked about where they were. "Fine, you're here now. What is it you needed to come all the way to New York to discuss?"
Nathan frowned, closing the door behind him before walking towards a chair near Mohinder's desk. He didn't sit, choosing instead to stand with his hips resting against the chair's back. "In your professional experience, have you ever encountered instances of abilities... changing?"
Mohinder felt his brow furrow in confusion at Nathan's words. "Do you mean the way Tracy Strauss's abilities evolved?" he asked, watching as the senator flinched at the mention of that name.
They had all heard the stories about the now unstable Tracy Strauss and her quest for revenge against those who had wronged her. As far as Mohinder knew, she was still on the loose and both Nathan and Bennet were high on her list of potential targets, but no one had heard anything about her in some time. The death toll had reached six and then stopped there, leaving many to wonder whether Tracy herself had been killed or if she had merely given up her task for vengeance and gone into hiding.
Mohinder honestly didn't know how to feel on the matter. He felt terrible for Tracy and all she had gone through, but he could not condone revenge of this sort.
What's more, there was a small part of him that feared for his own safety. True, Tracy was only targeting those who had imprisoned her at Building 26, but he had wronged the woman in his own way. Who was to say she wouldn't pop up again and make an attempt on his life?
"No," Nathan said. "Not quite like that. More like..." His words faded away as he turned his gaze towards something in the distance. Mohinder watched as his brow furrowed thoughtfully as if weighing his options. "More like developing other abilities. Acquiring them spontaneously after having only one ability for many years."
"I don't think I understand what you're asking," Mohinder said slowly. It worried him to say such things, especially when discussing abilities. He had a feeling that whatever Nathan was getting at was important and it was important for someone to understand. "You mean like Peter's old ability?"
"Something like that," Nathan said, and then frowned, thinking better of his words. "No. Not like that at all."
"Well, do you think you could explain it to me better?" he asked carefully, sincerely concerned that he had missed something. "Or... who are we talking about? Is this someone I can talk to myself?"
Nathan turned to him then, considering Mohinder for a while. There was a strange gleam in his deep brown eyes, a look that was oddly familiar, but not on Nathan. He'd seen that gaze before with someone else. "Forget it," he said after a while, shaking his head remorsefully. "Forget that I said anything."
"Nathan?"
"You're doing good work here, Suresh," Nathan interrupted as he walked back towards the door. "Keep it up. And... Take care of yourself."
Mohinder frowned at Nathan's cryptic words as the door to his office clicked shut.
-+-+-+-
Time seemed to move slower when there was something you were looking forward to and Mohinder was absolutely on edge with the need to get home. It was more than a bit embarrassing how excited he was to have sex, but going so many months without any physical intimacy had been agonizing. Looking back, he supposed that the more embarrassing thing was the fact that he hadn't bothered to voice his needs to the man he was about to have a child with.
The day picked up speed once he had arrived at home. The oddness of that afternoon's events seemed to evaporate from his memory as he walked into his apartment. The bulging weight that usually made his movements sluggish and labored didn't hinder him from quickly showering, getting changed, and finishing dinner.
Yet even through his cloud of excitement, Mohinder could still see that there was something clearly off about Matt's behavior. The man was avoiding him, stepping out of rooms after Mohinder entered and avoiding his gaze whenever they were in close proximity.
"Is something wrong?" Mohinder asked during dinner. Matt had kept his eyes trained on his plate the entire time, picking at his food and avoiding any attempt at conversation. "You've been awfully quiet."
"Matt's in a bad mood," was Molly's automatic response.
"I'm not in a bad mood, Molly," Matt grumbled, lifting his eyes only to shoot the girl a pointed look. "I'm just... I'm in a weird place."
"Did something happen?" Mohinder pushed. It wasn't at all like Matt to be this withdrawn, especially after a day off.
"Nah, just... well, I guess working on the nursery took more out of me than I expected," he said at last.
Suddenly Mohinder felt incredibly guilty for pestering Matt about putting the nursery together. It suddenly seemed quite foolish to do so when there was still so much time until the baby was due. "Well, the work certainly did pay off," Mohinder offered. He hoped that complimenting his efforts would make up for his irrational nagging. "The baby's room looks quite nice. Doesn't it Molly?"
She nodded, jabbing at her chicken with her fork. "Yeah, it looks great," she said. "But I bet it'll look even better when we put up my drawings."
Mohinder laughed at her words. He had asked her to draw a few pictures for the baby's nursery in the hopes that continuing to get Molly involved in the new addition's impending arrival would make the transition easier. Mohinder was quite pleased with how enthusiastic Molly had been with the little art project and adored each and every drawing, especially the family portrait that she had made of all four of them. It pleased Mohinder to know that Molly was finally warming up to the idea of becoming a big sister.
"Yes, that's just the final touch the nursery needs," Mohinder agreed. "We'll just have to go to the store later on so you can pick out some frames." He smiled, turning his gaze back to Matt who seemed to be more relaxed as he slowly came out of his awkwardness. "I noticed you didn't get to the crib though. Did the changing table give you too much trouble?"
Matt frowned, what little cheer that had been bubbling inside of him quickly deflated at that question. "I, uh, I just don't know about the whole 'baby sleeping in our room' thing," he said. "I dunno. I kinda wanna wait until we can think of something better."
Mohinder wanted to restate his earlier argument, to comment that he felt better keeping the baby as close as possible, but he swallowed those complaints for later. He hated fighting in front of Molly and he certainly didn't want to continue bickering and only add to Matt's already tense mood. Yet even though Mohinder pointedly kept his mouth closed, he watched as Matt's brow furrowed in annoyance. The other man's expression darkened as if an unpleasant thought had suddenly seeped into his head and was now stuck there.
Matt groaned, dropping his fork so suddenly that it fell to the plate and made a startling clang. "I'm not feeling well," he announced. "I'm... I think I'm gonna go straight to bed."
The disappointed scowl that spread across his face was hard to dismiss as Matt pushed himself away from the table, sending Mohinder an apologetic look before disappearing into their bedroom.
"He's been in a bad mood all day," Molly commented after Matt had left. "I don't care what he says, it's not a 'weird place,' it's a bad mood."
"He just had a tiring day," Mohinder sighed, trying to convince both Molly and himself. Yet a small nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that Matt was merely avoiding sleeping with him, and Mohinder was having a hard time convincing himself otherwise.
Next Chapter
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Reunited once more, Matt and Mohinder find themselves facing some unexpected challenges in their relationship. (Word Count: 3,332)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Slash, Mpreg, Angst, AU
Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5| Chapter 6
Chapter 7
"Mohinder, I get that you want to give the baby an Indian name and all, but could you at least make sure it's something that I can actually pronounce?"
Mohinder rolled his eyes playfully at Matt's words as he continued to adjust the buttons on his shirt. "You say that about every single name I've picked so far!" he argued. "They're not that hard to say."
"That's kind of an unreliable statement coming from you," he heard Matt say from somewhere just outside their bedroom. "You're a native speaker. Of course all the names sound easy to you."
Mohinder hummed thoughtfully as he looked himself over in the mirror, fighting against the urge to cringe distastefully at his reflection. He looked... fat. No. Not just fat. He looked fat and awkward. His arms and legs may have gained only a couple of pounds in the last few months, but the majority of the baby weight had gone straight to his stomach, causing his abdomen to expand, bulging out in an unappealing manner. He looked as if he had swallowed a whole beach ball and was still slowly digesting it like a snake.
The floorboards creaking alerted him to Matt's presence. Mohinder shifted as he tried to hide his bitter scowl by smoothing out the front of his shirt with his hands. It did nothing to keep his tense mood from Matt's sharp eyes.
"Do we have to go through this every morning?" Matt sighed, crossing the short distance between them to place his hands on Mohinder's arms. "You look fine. You're pregnant. You're supposed to be big and puffy."
"Yes, you can say that because you know I'm pregnant," Mohinder said, swallowing awkwardly as he shrugged Matt's hands off in order to grab his jacket and slip it on. The dark material was sliming, but it still wasn't enough to hide the large growth underneath. "Nobody else knows that," he muttered. "To everyone on the street I look... fat."
"You say that every time you have to go out," Matt pointed out. "If this is upsetting you so much then maybe you shouldn't go into work today."
Mohinder frowned, shaking his head at the suggestion. He wanted nothing more than to stay inside and hide away until after the baby was born, but he couldn't. He had to work; he had to support his family. This new job was paying for the bigger apartment they had moved into, the much needed baby supplies, and would help to take care of the delivery that he still wasn't prepared for.
Yet it didn't stop him from longing for the days when all he had to do to conceal his pregnancy was hide under a few thick layers of clothing. It felt like just yesterday that he had started wearing Matt's shirts in place of his own only to find himself out growing those within a matter of weeks.
"I can't call in," Mohinder said. "Nathan phoned me this morning. He said he had something important to discuss."
Matt stiffened at the senator's name, something that Mohinder had caught him doing quite often recently. Mohinder remembered when Matt and Nathan had been slowly developing an awkward friendship, now the mere hint of the politician was enough to make Matt uncomfortable. Mohinder supposed that Matt, like himself, was still feeling a bit uncomfortable after the entire Building 26 fiasco.
"Nathan's in town?" Matt asked slowly. "What does he want?"
"I don't know," Mohinder told him honestly. "He probably just wants to talk to me about a new project or something of the sort. Speaking of projects, do you think you'll be getting to work on the nursery today?"
Matt groaned, rolling his eyes with sincere weariness at the sudden shift in subject. Mohinder knew that he was being a pain about setting up the nursery, but ever since he had entered his third trimester, the Indian had developed an unshakable sense of anxiety over the baby's impending arrival. Whenever the baby would kick or push at his bulky stomach a wave of nerves would wash over him. He felt so incredibly unprepared and out of control and just wanted to make sure that everything would be ready on time.
"Yes, I'll work on the nursery," Matt mumbled. "But... I just don't get what you want me to do. You want me to fix up the nursery, but put the crib in our room?"
"Yes."
"Mohinder, that doesn't make sense. Shouldn't the baby sleep in the baby's room?"
"When he's ready, yes," Mohinder answered. "After he's born, I want him sleeping in our room with us, that way I can be right there when he needs me."
"That's kinda..." Matt stopped himself, taking a step closer to Mohinder as if worried someone would hear their discussion (a fact made stranger since Molly had left for school a little over an hour ago). "We're not exactly going to have much privacy are we? I mean, what if we want to...?"
"We barely do that anymore," Mohinder grumbled bitterly.
"What do you... oh." Matt's face somehow managed to both blush and pale as understanding slowly dawned on him. "Oh, Mohinder... I didn't... I didn't think you wanted to do that in your condition."
"I do Matt," Mohinder said, worrying his lip in embarrassment. He had been insanely needy recently, but he simply couldn't bring himself to say anything looking the way he did. He was repulsive to his own eyes, he couldn't begin to imagine what Matt must think of him anymore. Mohinder sighed, placing his hands against his swollen stomach. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but... but it's alright. I know you wouldn't be interested with me like this."
A small smile tugged at the corners of Matt's lips as he cupped Mohinder's chin, forcing the smaller man to look at him. "You look so beautiful to me," Matt assured him and as if to prove his point he bent forward to press their lips together in a soft kiss. "Don't think for a second that I don't love the way you look. And, well, if you ever want anything don't be afraid to ask."
Mohinder smiled hopefully, his arms eagerly wrapping themselves around Matt's neck. "Then, when I get home, can we... Oh, Matt. I really need you. It's been so long. I feel as if I'm going to explode."
Matt laughed, kissing him again. "Of course. I wouldn't want you blowing up from sexual frustration."
He leaned forward and kissed him, suddenly unable to get enough of the feel of Matt's lips against his own. "After dinner then," he said, "you and me."
"It's a date," Matt joked.
"And you'll at least set up the crib, won't you?"
"Seriously Mohinder? Calm down! You're thirty weeks, not forty! There's plenty of time before the baby arrives."
"I'm sorry, but being pregnant makes me anxious," he explained. "I just need to be ready and I need you to help me get ready."
Matt sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I get it," he said, although Mohinder already knew that he didn't get it at all. Not that he could blame him. Being pregnant wasn't an easy thing to wrap one's head around. "Now go to work. Be brilliant. I'll stay home and bang some sticks together."
He smiled, offering Matt one last kiss, on his cheek this time, before heading out of the bedroom. He was at the front door, his hands inches away from the knob, when he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to grab his satchel. The Indian sighed, turning around and heading back to their room.
"I forgot my bag," he announced as he walked through the door, but Matt didn't respond. He hadn't moved an inch since Mohinder had left the room. Mohinder frowned as he stared at Matt. He was staring fixatedly at something in the distance in silent horror. Mohinder turned around and followed the other man's gaze only to see that there was nothing. "Is something wrong?" he asked, turning back around to watch Matt's expression.
Matt blinked several times as if waking up from a dream before turning his attention back to Mohinder. "Um, nothing," he said. "Just thinking... about where to put the crib."
Mohinder frowned. He knew Matt well enough to easily see through the painfully obvious lie. "Right there, by the window," he said, pointing to the spot that he had suggested, even marked off, several times before. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
Matt nodded. He looked ready to speak, but stopped himself, choosing to merely swallowing the words in his throat.
"Alright," Mohinder said slowly. He was reluctant to leave, but the fact that he was already several minutes late propelled him towards the door. "I'll see you tonight then."
-+-+-+-
His office was a furnace. He hated staying in there for more than a few minutes, since no matter how many fans he brought in, no matter how much he tweaked the air conditioning, the small corner of the newly reinstated Company was always several degrees too hot for Mohinder's liking.
The Indian sighed; sliding off the thick jacket he had been wearing and placing it to hang on a hook on the wall. He could feel the redness in his cheeks as sweat burned its way down his face. Mohinder walked up to the tall white fan that he had placed in the corner of his office and put it on its highest setting. The fan churned to life slowly, its propellers working to match the speed of the ceiling fan just above it. A few papers fluttered, but he was prepared enough for this situation having already weighed down the files in order to prevent important documents from fluttering around the room like dead leaves on a breezy fall afternoon.
Mohinder frowned, checking the time on his wristwatch. There was still a few minutes left before he had to meet with the senator. He was hot and miserable and suddenly hated Nathan Petrelli for calling him in no matter the reason. Mohinder sighed, loosening the top buttons of his shirt as he flopped down in the leather desk chair. His heat frazzled mind reasoned that it would be perfectly acceptable to just sit back and cool off in his office for a few minutes.
A pleasant smile drifted across his face as the temperature in the room dropped, the air chilling comfortably until the sweat that had been pouring off of every inch of Mohinder's body came to a slow halt. Nathan can wait, he told himself.
No more than a handful of minutes could have passed before the office door swung open. "Suresh... whoa." He frowned, twisting around to watch as Nathan stepped into the office, shuddering against the chill as he buttoned up his suit jacket. "Jeez, Suresh. It's like an ice box in here. Why do you have so many fans going anyway? It's the middle of the fall."
"Are you kidding me?" Mohinder scoffed, sitting up straight. "It feels like the bloody sun in here."
Nathan chuckled, rubbing his hands together for warmth. "Which one of us is from New York and which is from India again?"
He frowned, not at all amused by the comment, as he set to work readjusting himself. "What brings you to my office, Nathan?" Mohinder asked tersely. He was in no mood for playful banter and didn't care if Nathan knew it. "I thought we were going to meet upstairs."
"We were," Nathan confirmed. "I was waiting for you."
Mohinder looked at his watch and saw that the hands had settled upon a few minutes after the time of their agreed upon meeting. "You couldn't have been waiting very long," Mohinder said.
"You're eight and a half minutes late," Nathan chided. "Your watch must be slow."
He shrugged indifferently. It didn't really matter one way or the other since whatever it was that Nathan wanted to discuss with him could very easily be talked about where they were. "Fine, you're here now. What is it you needed to come all the way to New York to discuss?"
Nathan frowned, closing the door behind him before walking towards a chair near Mohinder's desk. He didn't sit, choosing instead to stand with his hips resting against the chair's back. "In your professional experience, have you ever encountered instances of abilities... changing?"
Mohinder felt his brow furrow in confusion at Nathan's words. "Do you mean the way Tracy Strauss's abilities evolved?" he asked, watching as the senator flinched at the mention of that name.
They had all heard the stories about the now unstable Tracy Strauss and her quest for revenge against those who had wronged her. As far as Mohinder knew, she was still on the loose and both Nathan and Bennet were high on her list of potential targets, but no one had heard anything about her in some time. The death toll had reached six and then stopped there, leaving many to wonder whether Tracy herself had been killed or if she had merely given up her task for vengeance and gone into hiding.
Mohinder honestly didn't know how to feel on the matter. He felt terrible for Tracy and all she had gone through, but he could not condone revenge of this sort.
What's more, there was a small part of him that feared for his own safety. True, Tracy was only targeting those who had imprisoned her at Building 26, but he had wronged the woman in his own way. Who was to say she wouldn't pop up again and make an attempt on his life?
"No," Nathan said. "Not quite like that. More like..." His words faded away as he turned his gaze towards something in the distance. Mohinder watched as his brow furrowed thoughtfully as if weighing his options. "More like developing other abilities. Acquiring them spontaneously after having only one ability for many years."
"I don't think I understand what you're asking," Mohinder said slowly. It worried him to say such things, especially when discussing abilities. He had a feeling that whatever Nathan was getting at was important and it was important for someone to understand. "You mean like Peter's old ability?"
"Something like that," Nathan said, and then frowned, thinking better of his words. "No. Not like that at all."
"Well, do you think you could explain it to me better?" he asked carefully, sincerely concerned that he had missed something. "Or... who are we talking about? Is this someone I can talk to myself?"
Nathan turned to him then, considering Mohinder for a while. There was a strange gleam in his deep brown eyes, a look that was oddly familiar, but not on Nathan. He'd seen that gaze before with someone else. "Forget it," he said after a while, shaking his head remorsefully. "Forget that I said anything."
"Nathan?"
"You're doing good work here, Suresh," Nathan interrupted as he walked back towards the door. "Keep it up. And... Take care of yourself."
Mohinder frowned at Nathan's cryptic words as the door to his office clicked shut.
-+-+-+-
Time seemed to move slower when there was something you were looking forward to and Mohinder was absolutely on edge with the need to get home. It was more than a bit embarrassing how excited he was to have sex, but going so many months without any physical intimacy had been agonizing. Looking back, he supposed that the more embarrassing thing was the fact that he hadn't bothered to voice his needs to the man he was about to have a child with.
The day picked up speed once he had arrived at home. The oddness of that afternoon's events seemed to evaporate from his memory as he walked into his apartment. The bulging weight that usually made his movements sluggish and labored didn't hinder him from quickly showering, getting changed, and finishing dinner.
Yet even through his cloud of excitement, Mohinder could still see that there was something clearly off about Matt's behavior. The man was avoiding him, stepping out of rooms after Mohinder entered and avoiding his gaze whenever they were in close proximity.
"Is something wrong?" Mohinder asked during dinner. Matt had kept his eyes trained on his plate the entire time, picking at his food and avoiding any attempt at conversation. "You've been awfully quiet."
"Matt's in a bad mood," was Molly's automatic response.
"I'm not in a bad mood, Molly," Matt grumbled, lifting his eyes only to shoot the girl a pointed look. "I'm just... I'm in a weird place."
"Did something happen?" Mohinder pushed. It wasn't at all like Matt to be this withdrawn, especially after a day off.
"Nah, just... well, I guess working on the nursery took more out of me than I expected," he said at last.
Suddenly Mohinder felt incredibly guilty for pestering Matt about putting the nursery together. It suddenly seemed quite foolish to do so when there was still so much time until the baby was due. "Well, the work certainly did pay off," Mohinder offered. He hoped that complimenting his efforts would make up for his irrational nagging. "The baby's room looks quite nice. Doesn't it Molly?"
She nodded, jabbing at her chicken with her fork. "Yeah, it looks great," she said. "But I bet it'll look even better when we put up my drawings."
Mohinder laughed at her words. He had asked her to draw a few pictures for the baby's nursery in the hopes that continuing to get Molly involved in the new addition's impending arrival would make the transition easier. Mohinder was quite pleased with how enthusiastic Molly had been with the little art project and adored each and every drawing, especially the family portrait that she had made of all four of them. It pleased Mohinder to know that Molly was finally warming up to the idea of becoming a big sister.
"Yes, that's just the final touch the nursery needs," Mohinder agreed. "We'll just have to go to the store later on so you can pick out some frames." He smiled, turning his gaze back to Matt who seemed to be more relaxed as he slowly came out of his awkwardness. "I noticed you didn't get to the crib though. Did the changing table give you too much trouble?"
Matt frowned, what little cheer that had been bubbling inside of him quickly deflated at that question. "I, uh, I just don't know about the whole 'baby sleeping in our room' thing," he said. "I dunno. I kinda wanna wait until we can think of something better."
Mohinder wanted to restate his earlier argument, to comment that he felt better keeping the baby as close as possible, but he swallowed those complaints for later. He hated fighting in front of Molly and he certainly didn't want to continue bickering and only add to Matt's already tense mood. Yet even though Mohinder pointedly kept his mouth closed, he watched as Matt's brow furrowed in annoyance. The other man's expression darkened as if an unpleasant thought had suddenly seeped into his head and was now stuck there.
Matt groaned, dropping his fork so suddenly that it fell to the plate and made a startling clang. "I'm not feeling well," he announced. "I'm... I think I'm gonna go straight to bed."
The disappointed scowl that spread across his face was hard to dismiss as Matt pushed himself away from the table, sending Mohinder an apologetic look before disappearing into their bedroom.
"He's been in a bad mood all day," Molly commented after Matt had left. "I don't care what he says, it's not a 'weird place,' it's a bad mood."
"He just had a tiring day," Mohinder sighed, trying to convince both Molly and himself. Yet a small nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that Matt was merely avoiding sleeping with him, and Mohinder was having a hard time convincing himself otherwise.
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