Heroes Fic--Childhood Memories 4
Title: Childhood Memories
Chapter: 4
Pairing: Non, Gen-fic
Summary: A special turns Peter into a child, and for now he's Mohinder's responsibility.
Author's notes: For my LJ and FF.net readers, your reviews are amazing. I love you guys so much for it. For my FF.net readers, a special thanks to everyone who has this fic on their alerts. For my LJ readers, thanks for everyone who keeps checking in on my page. And for anyone who's reading my Settled World fics, they're still coming okay. I'm not ready to give up on my sexy Petlar.
3rd Person POV
The living room was filled with Peter's happy babble. He'd been talking to Angela for nearly twenty minutes and showed no signs of stopping. Mohinder, who was leaning in the kitchen doorway, could see the distress beginning to fade from Peter's face. But there was still an underlying insecurity. He seemed to be truely frightened that Angela had abandoned him. Mohinder's heart clenched, but he knew it would be alright. He knew that Peter grew up to be a well-rounded adult and a wonderful person.
As much as he wanted to linger, Mohinder knew it would be impolite, so he went to his study to get some work done. Looking around at the things he had laying about, a camera, a laptop, his cellphone, Mohinder sighed. He tilted his head and listened for Peter's conversation. Once he was sure Peter was preoccupied he set about hiding anything too conspicuous. He moved about quietly, gathering everything up and storing it in his closet.
Mohinder put his hands on his hips and wondered how on Earth he'd be able to keep the year a secret from Peter. If the condition only lasted for a day he'd have no problem, but a week or two, that was a challange. Mohinder could think of no lie to cover the television programs. He could think of no reason to insist that Peter stay indoors and away from windows. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and drummed his fingers against his hips.
"Mr.Sur--oh yeah...MOHINDER! Mommy wants to TALK to youuuuu!"
He could hear Peter's light footsteps scamper across the livingroom and then stop short just before his study. Peter peeked shyly around the corner, and at Mohinder's beckoning, he hurried in to hand Mohinder the phone.
"Thank you Peter."
Mohinder took a deep breath and was ready to answer Angela when he thought better of it. He muttered a quick 'hold on' and put his hand over the mouth piece.
"If you'd like Peter there are crayons and paper in Molly's room. They're all on the top of her white dresser. You can go color in her room."
Peter smiled and headed out of the study, stopping only long enough to cast a longing glance at the phone. Mohinder smiled at him and waited for his footsteps to fade before starting to talk with Angela.
"Yes Angela?"
"Keep him warm. Always bring a jacket when you take him outdoors. I don't care how warm it is outside. He doesn't like onions or red meat. He has nightmares and he'll want to sleep with you. Handle that however you wish, but don't you dare yell at him for it. I've told him that Nathan is doing an extra cirricular project for school, a JROTC project, and that no phone calls are permitted. He will cry a lot, and I expect that you will give him the same amount of respect you always have when he returns to normal."
The information had come quickly and had been given in a tone that left no room for arguement. Even over the phone Mohinder could tell that Angela was upset with the situation. He had known from the first time he met her that Peter was her favorite, her baby.
"Noah warned me about the cold. I won't feed him anything with onions or red meat in it. And Molly had nightmares all the time, I am quite adept at handling them. I'll go along with your story about Nathan and I'll try to keep him as busy as possible to keep his mind occupied. And I am well aware that for now he is only a child. It won't affect my opinion of him.
"Is there anything else I need to know Angela? Does he have any allergies or medical conditions?"
"No, he's healthy. But as you know, the nerves on one side of his lip are dead. He was very self conscious about it as a child. Don't draw attention to it."
"I won't Mrs. Petrelli. Also...I was wondering if you knew of any way I could keep the year a secret from Peter?"
"Take him camping."
There was a pause during which Mohinder sighed in relief and only Angela's soft breathing could be heard. Then--
"And so help me if he comes back with a cold, I will have your head Suresh."
Mohinder let out a single nervous laugh and ran a hand through his hair.
"Of course Mrs. Petrelli. I'll be sure to bundle him up extra tight."
"I would like to say goodbye."
"Of course, just a moment."
Mohinder held the phone away from his face and yelled for Peter. Immediatly he heard the frantic pattering of Peter's feet barreling his way. He held the phone out and Peter took it happily. The young boy cradled the phone to his ear and smiled into the mouthpiece, giving sweet goodbyes to his mother. Mohinder stepped around him and headed towards the kitchen. He cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, then began digging through his cabinets. In a small black tin, tucked away, there were sedatives. He still had them from his first encounter with Sylar. He pulled the tin out and pushed it against the wall on the counter. Mohinder took a deep breath and told himself that this was the only way he'd get Peter out of civilization without questions.
When Peter turned the corner into the kitchen Mohinder could see that he was sad the phone call had ended, but much happier than he had been earlier. Peter smiled up at him and carefully laid the phone on the table.
"Thank you for calling my mommy."
"Not a problem Peter. Um, you're mother gave me a wonderful suggestion. How about we go camping? You know, since the three of them are away we can go away as well."
Peter's face broke out into a huge grin. Mohinder chuckled light-heartedly and tried to fight down the naseauous feeling brewing in his stomach. He didn't feel right about drugging a child, but he couldn't see any sure way around it.
"I'd like that Mohinder! I went camping once, but I was only three and I don't really remember it. But Nathan said I ate a bug! Isn't that gross?"
Peter's story dissolved into giggles before he could describe what type of bug it was. But he made a few hand motions of himself eating it and Mohinder gave a genuine laugh despite his uneasiness.
"As a child I believe I ate a few worms."
Peter's mouth dropped open and formed an 'O'. Then his brown furrowed and his nose scrunched up as he tried to imagine what that would feel like. Unwilling to drag this out longer than nessecary Mohinder took Peter's silence as an opportunity.
"Why don't you finish up your picture and I'll bring you some tea."
Peter nodded and scurried away, intent on finishing up his picture before they left. When Mohinder was sure he was gone, he set a kettle on the boil and sorted through the dose he needed. Roughly twenty minutes later Mohinder had a drugged cup of warm tea sitting inconspicuously in a frog print glass. With a heavy heart he brought the cup to Peter, who was happily scribbling away. He mused that it looked something like a dog but he couldn't be entirely sure.
"Here Peter, drink up."
Peter turned away from his picture and accepted the glass. He muttered a quick 'thank you Mohinder' before taking a big sip. Mohinder stood in front of him, watching nervously. After the first sip, Peter looked up at Mohinder and opened his mouth as if to speak. But he said nothing. Instead his attention flicked back down to the cup and he finished the rest of the glass. Mohinder held his hand out and Peter returned the cup silently. With a barely contained sigh Mohinder turned away.
"I like you Mohinder."
Mohinder froze, his lower lip trembled and his palms clenched. He turned back to face Peter and gave him a sad smile. The boy was leaning forward with his head resting in his folded arms. But his face was towards Mohinder.
"I like you too Peter."
Seconds later Peter was asleep, whisked away by the drugs in his tea.
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Gotta keep an eye on that Empathy Momo, he feels your guilt.
I'll go more in-depth about the trip to the camp site in the next chapter. And seriously, I sat at my computer for about a half hour just staring at wordpad going 'how do we keep the future a secret?' Camping was the only thing I could think of.