Something...a little different? Eternal Night Ch 1/?
Title: Eternal Night (may change title later)
Author: Megmatthews20
Characters: Mylar, Adam, and another guy later who is not part of the show, also mentions of Hiro...
Warning: Torture, sexiness, drugging
Spoilers: You should watch season two to know who Adam is, and because it's...you know...got Mohinder and Sylar. :p
Rating: Varies...this chapter is R-ish
Word Count: 2681
Summary: This may get a little confusing, but future chapters should smooth things out. Basically there are two Mohinders in the present, and one of them is very...different
Disclaimer: This is AU from the comics anyway, because I messed around with Adam's timeline...also...
A/N: Okay...so I had part of the idea of this story in mind when watching Muppet Treasure Island...thinking, what could be better than Mylar with Pirates? How about Mylar with pirates and vampires! Now that I've given half of it away, please enjoy the first chapter. I'll try to write the rest when I can...I definitely have an idea of where it's going, the journey is the interesting part. Cheers!
Also, this is dedicated to Eridanie because I know how much she loves vampires. ^_^
The night was chilly, and Mohinder pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he cursed under his breath, walking through the alley. He felt so stupid for taking this short-cut to the grocery store. The main streets were far longer to be sure, but at least there was more light, and in the growing darkness he began to feel uneasy.
“Did you leave your brain at home?” Mohinder mumbled aloud, finding at the same time a calmness and an eeriness about speaking to himself in the deserted street.
He froze suddenly, the hair standing up on his arms and the back of his neck when he heard a shuffling at the end of the alley. Mohinder squinted into the darkness, his hand clutched tightly around the bag of toothpaste and mint chocolates; items that suddenly felt pointless as he realized the danger he might have put himself in. His muscles tensed as he debated whether he should keep going forward, or turn and bolt the other way. He was preparing to do the latter when he saw a figure step forward into the darkness of the alley. Mohinder blinked several times, dropping his bag at the sight of the other man.
No, not another man.
But it couldn’t be, this was impossible. It must be an ability, something to do with illusions.
The man smiled, his dark curls glistening in a sliver of light from a solitary street-lamp. He flashed too-bright teeth, teeth that appeared just a little too sharp. His gaze flitted up and down Mohinder’s body, taking him in appreciatively. His skin seemed to glow, almost ethereally, not sweaty, not human, but un-earthly. He nodded, as though convinced of something, then his head snapped sharply to the right as though he were hearing something, and in an instant he was gone, moving faster than Mohinder could have imagined.
“Wait!” Mohinder called, running down the alley, after the man, after himself.
Mohinder turned the corner, searching the street for any sign of the man. A part of him was flustered at his brash action, running after this man, possibly into a trap, maybe even one set up by Sylar. But Mohinder was too shocked at seeing himself standing at the far end of the street, and then just disappearing, that he no longer paid any attention to the lingering darkness around him, or the danger it represented. He stood catching his breath, hand against the wall as he continued to look around as though expecting himself to suddenly appear again right there. He was so caught up in his search that he barely registered the sharp sting on the back of his neck.
Mohinder blinked, stumbling forward slightly as his hand went up to his neck, grabbing at the small dart, pulling it out to look at it. As his vision began to fog over, he turned to look behind him, seeing two men in the darkness, approaching him warily. Then Mohinder collapsed to the ground, vaguely aware of the men coming closer as he slipped into unconsciousness..
***
Sylar gripped the dirty curtain in his pale fingers, his gaze settled on the few humans milling about on the street below. He wondered whether any of them held a power, something new for him to try, some new mechanism to work into his own system, to snap into place so that his machine functioned all the better for it. His eyes burned from lack of sleep. He’d been awake for forty hours now, his hands still tinged slightly red from his last kill. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been the most gratifying kill so far.
“They all seem so insignificant.”
Sylar jumped, turning from the window to stare wildly into the livingroom. He tensed, raising a hand, ready to fight, but realizing that the voice of the intruder had sounded so...familiar. But it couldn’t be. No one could be that quiet, could get past his sensitive hearing so well, especially...
“What’s the matter, Sylar? Are you afraid of the bogeyman?” Mohinder pushed himself off from the wall where he’d been leaning, one foot resting against the cheap plaster. He walked out of the shadows, coming to stand in the small stream of light that managed to bleed through the curtain. His arms were crossed, his mouth was set in an amused smirk, and he was beautiful.
Sylar found himself at a loss for words as he took Mohinder in. It was the same man, same curls, same dark eyes, same lean physique, but there was something else, something different. Mohinder seemed older, and younger at the same time.
He seemed eternal, Sylar realized, frowning at the confusing thought.
“Ah yes, I forgot. You are the bogeyman,” Mohinder smiled.
Sylar found himself shivering slightly. He dropped his hand down, forcing the look of surprise on his face into a smirk. There was something off about Mohinder’s smile, something...frightening.
“How’d you find me?” Sylar asked, trying to sound off-hand.
Mohinder shrugged, “it was necessary, so I just did.”
“Just like that huh? Are you going to try and drag me in to the Company? Experiment on me?”
“It would hardly be trying. But no, I have other uses for you.”
Sylar chuckled lightly, ignoring the cold shiver in his spine, “and what would those uses be?”
“I need you to kidnap me.”
Sylar couldn’t conceal the look of surprise that brought both his eyebrows up, and caused Mohinder’s smile to grow.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sylar demanded.
Mohinder dropped his arms to his side, taking a quick step forward, and Sylar brought his hand up again in warning. Mohinder dropped his chin down slightly, his look one of amusement.
“Planning on tearing me to pieces?”
“Well, now that you mention it,” Sylar replied, fighting to think of a way to regain control of the situation. Mohinder didn’t seem intimidated in the least, and Sylar was beginning to feel unnerved.
“I need you to break into a building, where I happen to be right now, and teleport,” Sylar’s eyes grew wide, “yes, teleport me out of there. If you do this for me, then I will give you the thing you want the most.”
Sylar breathed heavily as he glared at Mohinder, trying to wrap his mind around what he’d just been told, “who are you?”
Mohinder moved, so fast, faster than Sylar could follow. Sylar found himself being pinned against the wall, Mohinder’s arm pressed along his upper-chest.
“Don’t you recognize me? Aren’t I the man in your dreams? The name you whisper as you come?”
Sylar’s eyes grew wide, and he had to remember to breathe as he stared down at Mohinder, the man’s grip on him so strong that he felt an ache in his bones where he was pressed into the wall.
“What happened to you?” Sylar whispered.
“I changed, for the better,” Mohinder said, pulling Sylar down a little so that their mouths were close, so close, Mohinder’s breath brushed over Sylar’s lips as he spoke, “and I want to change you.”
Sylar found himself growing embarrassingly hard as Mohinder leaned against him.
“What makes you think I won’t just kill you right now,” Sylar asked.
“Because you want me. You want me so bad that you’re burning up.”
Sylar realized then how warm he felt. He was sweating, his body shivering; fearing, and at the same time yearning for Mohinder’s touch. Mohinder’s mouth brushed close to Sylar’s neck, his teeth barely grazing Sylar’s skin.
“Tell me more,” Sylar said, swallowing.
Mohinder pulled back, looking Sylar in the eye.
He glowed in the lights from the street.
XXXX
Mohinder woke, feeling a dull pain in his shoulders, and something heavy on his wrists. He slowly opened his eyes, looking down at his arms, feeling the panic creep in as he found himself bound by hand-cuffs to a long metal bar. He twisted his head around to take in his surroundings. The metal bar was anchored to the floor, which in itself appeared to be a thick wire mesh. The walls of the room were thick concrete, except for the one directly in front of him, which was made of plexiglass; a giant window into the next room where a handful of men looked in at Mohinder, curious.
Mohinder swallowed against his panic as he looked at the men, “what is this? What’s going on?”
One of the men pressed a button, and leaned down to speak into a microphone, “we’re going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer us honestly. If you don’t, we’re going to drown you.”
Mohinder frowned, tugging against the cuffs as he lay on his back, trying to face the men, “drown, wh-what do you mean drown? What is this about?”
“We’ll ask the questions, Suresh.”
Mohinder shook as he waited, gaze flitting around to the rest of the room, but attention still focused before him, to the men in that room, the room separated from his own.
“Does this have to do with what I saw tonight? Do you think I’m him? A manifestation of that power, whatever it was?” Mohinder asked.
“Don’t worry about what we think, just answer the questions,” the man said, “first, please state your name for the record.”
“Mo-mohinder Suresh.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-three,” Mohinder frowned.
“Have you ever traveled back in time, Mohinder?”
“No, I have not,” Mohinder said, feeling very exposed as he lay chained to the floor, four sets of eyes directed at him.
“You wouldn’t lie to us, would you? We took extra precautions with those hand-cuffs and this glass. This whole process would go a lot easier if you told the truth.”
Mohinder’s head spun, he felt sick. They thought he was lying. If they continued to think he was lying, things would get very difficult, maybe even deadly.
“Listen, I saw what you’re looking for tonight. Whatever he was, I saw him in the alley. I went after him, and that’s when you found me. I am Mohinder Suresh, I swear. Please, if there’s any way I can convince you, just...”
“We know who you are. That’s not what we’re establishing.”
Mohinder opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say.
“Now, Mohinder, how long have you been alive?”
“Thirty-three years. I told you,” Mohinder’s fists clenched in the hand-cuffs as he tried to sit up, but failed.
“Right...”
A man to Mohinder’s left pressed a button, and the loud rush of water began to sound from underneath the floor. Mohinder’s heart raced as he heard the water get closer and closer, until he felt the cool liquid against the small of his back, soaking through his jacket, and steadily climbing. He pulled at the cuffs until he began to feel his wrists burning, but they did not give way at all as the water began to trickle up his sides, over his chest. He fought to keep his head from being submerged, sputtering as liquid sloshed into his mouth, up his nose, continuing to rise.
Mohinder thrashed about in the water, pulling his head up just enough to shout, “please!”
The heels of his feet kicked against the mesh of the floor as he closed his eyes, gulping painfully. He was drowning as these strangers watched him. The water reached over Mohinder’s head. He felt his hair floating freely about him as bubbles brushed over his face. He continued to pull against the chains, but the strong metal did not give way. He was dying.
Then the water rushed away as though a giant plug had been pulled, and Mohinder gasped, curls falling over his face as he gulped in much needed oxygen. He blinked up at the men, their images distorted behind the wet glass as they spoke amongst themselves. Another man had stepped forward, someone Mohinder had not seen before. The man had short blonde hair, and his light eyes glinted at Mohinder for just a moment before he turned to the man with the microphone, whispering something in his ear.
The man with the microphone leaned forward again, “consider that a warning. The next time the room stays flooded. Understand?”
Mohinder nodded, chest rising and falling quickly as he focused all his attention on answering the men to the best of his abilities.
“Now, we think you might,” the man looked at the blonde man beside him, “be telling the truth. If you keep doing this, you have nothing to fear from us.”
“Yes, I’m telling the truth, I swear, I...”
“When was the last time you came in contact with Hiro Nakamura, or Gabriel Sylar?” the man asked.
Mohinder’s eyes flitted left and right as he struggled to remember. He was shivering from cold and fear, and the thought of death by drowning wasn’t helping his concentration, but he willed his mind to focus, to remember.
“I’ve never formerly met Hiro Nakamura. And I haven’t seen Sylar for over a year,” Mohinder said.
The blonde man leaned down to whisper to the man with the microphone again.
Mohinder cast around for something he might have forgotten, some event in the past year that he could relay, to make these men realize he was telling the truth, to get them to let him go.
“That’s good news,” the man with the microphone said, “unfortunately we can’t take any chances now.”
Mohinder shook his head desperately as the man to the left pushed the button again.
“No! No, I haven’t done anything! I’m not working with Sylar! He’s a murderer, he killed my father! I tried to kill him! Please, don’t do this!”
Mohinder’s muscles tensed as he felt the water reach him again, working fast to submerge him. He pulled so hard at the cuffs that he could see blood in the rush of water. He took in a deep breath as the water began to envelop him. It rushed over him quickly, and Mohinder swallowed against the panic, shuddering with the pain of the cold against his skin.
His whole body was submerged. The water continued to rise. Soon his lungs were beginning to burn. This was it, he had no choice. His body was fighting him, desperate for oxygen.
Mohinder breathed out, and just as he did he felt the water splash around him and firm hands gripped his arms.
Then the cool water disappeared, and was replaced by warm water. Mohinder was no longer bound, and he instinctively began to swim toward the surface. Finally he was able to breathe, feeling the delicious oxygen enter his starving lungs.
He pushed his hair out of his eyes, looking around.
His savior had disappeared.
He was swimming in the ocean, the warm ocean.
And suddenly arms were working to pull Mohinder out of the water, dragging him onboard a solid surface.
Mohinder lay on his stomach, feeling the fine wood beneath him, not daring to look up for fear of what he might see.
“What have we here?”
One of the men who had dragged Mohinder out of the ocean gripped his chin, forcing his gaze up. He gasped painfully as he looked up at the blonde man before him. The blonde man he’d seen not a moment before, but who now looked very very different.
“You’re a long way from India,” the man said, raising an eyebrow as he brushed absently at a button on his coat.
“Where am I?” Mohinder asked.
“You’re in the lovely Caribbean, mate,” the man laughed, “on my ship. I’m Captain Monroe, and I believe you’ve just joined my crew.”
Mohinder heard the hearty and rough laughter of the men around him. He looked slowly about, taking in the crew, their clothes, their accents, their mannerisms. These were not actors. He had not dropped onto some stage in the middle of the ocean.
Somehow Mohinder had landed in the Caribbean, in the 1700's if his estimation was right, and he was surrounded (if he wasn’t mistaken, and he dearly hoped he was) by pirates.
Author: Megmatthews20
Characters: Mylar, Adam, and another guy later who is not part of the show, also mentions of Hiro...
Warning: Torture, sexiness, drugging
Spoilers: You should watch season two to know who Adam is, and because it's...you know...got Mohinder and Sylar. :p
Rating: Varies...this chapter is R-ish
Word Count: 2681
Summary: This may get a little confusing, but future chapters should smooth things out. Basically there are two Mohinders in the present, and one of them is very...different
Disclaimer: This is AU from the comics anyway, because I messed around with Adam's timeline...also...
A/N: Okay...so I had part of the idea of this story in mind when watching Muppet Treasure Island...thinking, what could be better than Mylar with Pirates? How about Mylar with pirates and vampires! Now that I've given half of it away, please enjoy the first chapter. I'll try to write the rest when I can...I definitely have an idea of where it's going, the journey is the interesting part. Cheers!
Also, this is dedicated to Eridanie because I know how much she loves vampires. ^_^
The night was chilly, and Mohinder pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he cursed under his breath, walking through the alley. He felt so stupid for taking this short-cut to the grocery store. The main streets were far longer to be sure, but at least there was more light, and in the growing darkness he began to feel uneasy.
“Did you leave your brain at home?” Mohinder mumbled aloud, finding at the same time a calmness and an eeriness about speaking to himself in the deserted street.
He froze suddenly, the hair standing up on his arms and the back of his neck when he heard a shuffling at the end of the alley. Mohinder squinted into the darkness, his hand clutched tightly around the bag of toothpaste and mint chocolates; items that suddenly felt pointless as he realized the danger he might have put himself in. His muscles tensed as he debated whether he should keep going forward, or turn and bolt the other way. He was preparing to do the latter when he saw a figure step forward into the darkness of the alley. Mohinder blinked several times, dropping his bag at the sight of the other man.
No, not another man.
But it couldn’t be, this was impossible. It must be an ability, something to do with illusions.
The man smiled, his dark curls glistening in a sliver of light from a solitary street-lamp. He flashed too-bright teeth, teeth that appeared just a little too sharp. His gaze flitted up and down Mohinder’s body, taking him in appreciatively. His skin seemed to glow, almost ethereally, not sweaty, not human, but un-earthly. He nodded, as though convinced of something, then his head snapped sharply to the right as though he were hearing something, and in an instant he was gone, moving faster than Mohinder could have imagined.
“Wait!” Mohinder called, running down the alley, after the man, after himself.
Mohinder turned the corner, searching the street for any sign of the man. A part of him was flustered at his brash action, running after this man, possibly into a trap, maybe even one set up by Sylar. But Mohinder was too shocked at seeing himself standing at the far end of the street, and then just disappearing, that he no longer paid any attention to the lingering darkness around him, or the danger it represented. He stood catching his breath, hand against the wall as he continued to look around as though expecting himself to suddenly appear again right there. He was so caught up in his search that he barely registered the sharp sting on the back of his neck.
Mohinder blinked, stumbling forward slightly as his hand went up to his neck, grabbing at the small dart, pulling it out to look at it. As his vision began to fog over, he turned to look behind him, seeing two men in the darkness, approaching him warily. Then Mohinder collapsed to the ground, vaguely aware of the men coming closer as he slipped into unconsciousness..
***
Sylar gripped the dirty curtain in his pale fingers, his gaze settled on the few humans milling about on the street below. He wondered whether any of them held a power, something new for him to try, some new mechanism to work into his own system, to snap into place so that his machine functioned all the better for it. His eyes burned from lack of sleep. He’d been awake for forty hours now, his hands still tinged slightly red from his last kill. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been the most gratifying kill so far.
“They all seem so insignificant.”
Sylar jumped, turning from the window to stare wildly into the livingroom. He tensed, raising a hand, ready to fight, but realizing that the voice of the intruder had sounded so...familiar. But it couldn’t be. No one could be that quiet, could get past his sensitive hearing so well, especially...
“What’s the matter, Sylar? Are you afraid of the bogeyman?” Mohinder pushed himself off from the wall where he’d been leaning, one foot resting against the cheap plaster. He walked out of the shadows, coming to stand in the small stream of light that managed to bleed through the curtain. His arms were crossed, his mouth was set in an amused smirk, and he was beautiful.
Sylar found himself at a loss for words as he took Mohinder in. It was the same man, same curls, same dark eyes, same lean physique, but there was something else, something different. Mohinder seemed older, and younger at the same time.
He seemed eternal, Sylar realized, frowning at the confusing thought.
“Ah yes, I forgot. You are the bogeyman,” Mohinder smiled.
Sylar found himself shivering slightly. He dropped his hand down, forcing the look of surprise on his face into a smirk. There was something off about Mohinder’s smile, something...frightening.
“How’d you find me?” Sylar asked, trying to sound off-hand.
Mohinder shrugged, “it was necessary, so I just did.”
“Just like that huh? Are you going to try and drag me in to the Company? Experiment on me?”
“It would hardly be trying. But no, I have other uses for you.”
Sylar chuckled lightly, ignoring the cold shiver in his spine, “and what would those uses be?”
“I need you to kidnap me.”
Sylar couldn’t conceal the look of surprise that brought both his eyebrows up, and caused Mohinder’s smile to grow.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sylar demanded.
Mohinder dropped his arms to his side, taking a quick step forward, and Sylar brought his hand up again in warning. Mohinder dropped his chin down slightly, his look one of amusement.
“Planning on tearing me to pieces?”
“Well, now that you mention it,” Sylar replied, fighting to think of a way to regain control of the situation. Mohinder didn’t seem intimidated in the least, and Sylar was beginning to feel unnerved.
“I need you to break into a building, where I happen to be right now, and teleport,” Sylar’s eyes grew wide, “yes, teleport me out of there. If you do this for me, then I will give you the thing you want the most.”
Sylar breathed heavily as he glared at Mohinder, trying to wrap his mind around what he’d just been told, “who are you?”
Mohinder moved, so fast, faster than Sylar could follow. Sylar found himself being pinned against the wall, Mohinder’s arm pressed along his upper-chest.
“Don’t you recognize me? Aren’t I the man in your dreams? The name you whisper as you come?”
Sylar’s eyes grew wide, and he had to remember to breathe as he stared down at Mohinder, the man’s grip on him so strong that he felt an ache in his bones where he was pressed into the wall.
“What happened to you?” Sylar whispered.
“I changed, for the better,” Mohinder said, pulling Sylar down a little so that their mouths were close, so close, Mohinder’s breath brushed over Sylar’s lips as he spoke, “and I want to change you.”
Sylar found himself growing embarrassingly hard as Mohinder leaned against him.
“What makes you think I won’t just kill you right now,” Sylar asked.
“Because you want me. You want me so bad that you’re burning up.”
Sylar realized then how warm he felt. He was sweating, his body shivering; fearing, and at the same time yearning for Mohinder’s touch. Mohinder’s mouth brushed close to Sylar’s neck, his teeth barely grazing Sylar’s skin.
“Tell me more,” Sylar said, swallowing.
Mohinder pulled back, looking Sylar in the eye.
He glowed in the lights from the street.
XXXX
Mohinder woke, feeling a dull pain in his shoulders, and something heavy on his wrists. He slowly opened his eyes, looking down at his arms, feeling the panic creep in as he found himself bound by hand-cuffs to a long metal bar. He twisted his head around to take in his surroundings. The metal bar was anchored to the floor, which in itself appeared to be a thick wire mesh. The walls of the room were thick concrete, except for the one directly in front of him, which was made of plexiglass; a giant window into the next room where a handful of men looked in at Mohinder, curious.
Mohinder swallowed against his panic as he looked at the men, “what is this? What’s going on?”
One of the men pressed a button, and leaned down to speak into a microphone, “we’re going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer us honestly. If you don’t, we’re going to drown you.”
Mohinder frowned, tugging against the cuffs as he lay on his back, trying to face the men, “drown, wh-what do you mean drown? What is this about?”
“We’ll ask the questions, Suresh.”
Mohinder shook as he waited, gaze flitting around to the rest of the room, but attention still focused before him, to the men in that room, the room separated from his own.
“Does this have to do with what I saw tonight? Do you think I’m him? A manifestation of that power, whatever it was?” Mohinder asked.
“Don’t worry about what we think, just answer the questions,” the man said, “first, please state your name for the record.”
“Mo-mohinder Suresh.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-three,” Mohinder frowned.
“Have you ever traveled back in time, Mohinder?”
“No, I have not,” Mohinder said, feeling very exposed as he lay chained to the floor, four sets of eyes directed at him.
“You wouldn’t lie to us, would you? We took extra precautions with those hand-cuffs and this glass. This whole process would go a lot easier if you told the truth.”
Mohinder’s head spun, he felt sick. They thought he was lying. If they continued to think he was lying, things would get very difficult, maybe even deadly.
“Listen, I saw what you’re looking for tonight. Whatever he was, I saw him in the alley. I went after him, and that’s when you found me. I am Mohinder Suresh, I swear. Please, if there’s any way I can convince you, just...”
“We know who you are. That’s not what we’re establishing.”
Mohinder opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say.
“Now, Mohinder, how long have you been alive?”
“Thirty-three years. I told you,” Mohinder’s fists clenched in the hand-cuffs as he tried to sit up, but failed.
“Right...”
A man to Mohinder’s left pressed a button, and the loud rush of water began to sound from underneath the floor. Mohinder’s heart raced as he heard the water get closer and closer, until he felt the cool liquid against the small of his back, soaking through his jacket, and steadily climbing. He pulled at the cuffs until he began to feel his wrists burning, but they did not give way at all as the water began to trickle up his sides, over his chest. He fought to keep his head from being submerged, sputtering as liquid sloshed into his mouth, up his nose, continuing to rise.
Mohinder thrashed about in the water, pulling his head up just enough to shout, “please!”
The heels of his feet kicked against the mesh of the floor as he closed his eyes, gulping painfully. He was drowning as these strangers watched him. The water reached over Mohinder’s head. He felt his hair floating freely about him as bubbles brushed over his face. He continued to pull against the chains, but the strong metal did not give way. He was dying.
Then the water rushed away as though a giant plug had been pulled, and Mohinder gasped, curls falling over his face as he gulped in much needed oxygen. He blinked up at the men, their images distorted behind the wet glass as they spoke amongst themselves. Another man had stepped forward, someone Mohinder had not seen before. The man had short blonde hair, and his light eyes glinted at Mohinder for just a moment before he turned to the man with the microphone, whispering something in his ear.
The man with the microphone leaned forward again, “consider that a warning. The next time the room stays flooded. Understand?”
Mohinder nodded, chest rising and falling quickly as he focused all his attention on answering the men to the best of his abilities.
“Now, we think you might,” the man looked at the blonde man beside him, “be telling the truth. If you keep doing this, you have nothing to fear from us.”
“Yes, I’m telling the truth, I swear, I...”
“When was the last time you came in contact with Hiro Nakamura, or Gabriel Sylar?” the man asked.
Mohinder’s eyes flitted left and right as he struggled to remember. He was shivering from cold and fear, and the thought of death by drowning wasn’t helping his concentration, but he willed his mind to focus, to remember.
“I’ve never formerly met Hiro Nakamura. And I haven’t seen Sylar for over a year,” Mohinder said.
The blonde man leaned down to whisper to the man with the microphone again.
Mohinder cast around for something he might have forgotten, some event in the past year that he could relay, to make these men realize he was telling the truth, to get them to let him go.
“That’s good news,” the man with the microphone said, “unfortunately we can’t take any chances now.”
Mohinder shook his head desperately as the man to the left pushed the button again.
“No! No, I haven’t done anything! I’m not working with Sylar! He’s a murderer, he killed my father! I tried to kill him! Please, don’t do this!”
Mohinder’s muscles tensed as he felt the water reach him again, working fast to submerge him. He pulled so hard at the cuffs that he could see blood in the rush of water. He took in a deep breath as the water began to envelop him. It rushed over him quickly, and Mohinder swallowed against the panic, shuddering with the pain of the cold against his skin.
His whole body was submerged. The water continued to rise. Soon his lungs were beginning to burn. This was it, he had no choice. His body was fighting him, desperate for oxygen.
Mohinder breathed out, and just as he did he felt the water splash around him and firm hands gripped his arms.
Then the cool water disappeared, and was replaced by warm water. Mohinder was no longer bound, and he instinctively began to swim toward the surface. Finally he was able to breathe, feeling the delicious oxygen enter his starving lungs.
He pushed his hair out of his eyes, looking around.
His savior had disappeared.
He was swimming in the ocean, the warm ocean.
And suddenly arms were working to pull Mohinder out of the water, dragging him onboard a solid surface.
Mohinder lay on his stomach, feeling the fine wood beneath him, not daring to look up for fear of what he might see.
“What have we here?”
One of the men who had dragged Mohinder out of the ocean gripped his chin, forcing his gaze up. He gasped painfully as he looked up at the blonde man before him. The blonde man he’d seen not a moment before, but who now looked very very different.
“You’re a long way from India,” the man said, raising an eyebrow as he brushed absently at a button on his coat.
“Where am I?” Mohinder asked.
“You’re in the lovely Caribbean, mate,” the man laughed, “on my ship. I’m Captain Monroe, and I believe you’ve just joined my crew.”
Mohinder heard the hearty and rough laughter of the men around him. He looked slowly about, taking in the crew, their clothes, their accents, their mannerisms. These were not actors. He had not dropped onto some stage in the middle of the ocean.
Somehow Mohinder had landed in the Caribbean, in the 1700's if his estimation was right, and he was surrounded (if he wasn’t mistaken, and he dearly hoped he was) by pirates.