Riding in Cars with a Man
Title: Riding in Cars with a Man
Summary: Elle and secrets never did go well together. This time she has one for Noah.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 3x02
Disclaimer: Heroes is not owned by me, but by Tim Kring. I’m simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
~~
Where they were driving back from Elle couldn’t even remember. She just knew that it would be at least another hour before she and Bennet were back in New York. Another hour in which she had to keep sipping ice water to even try to curb her need to vomit.
“Not again,” Noah sighed when she pulled over just minutes later. She had been sick the whole weekend that they had been working, leaving him to do most of the work. Needless to say it had also killed the hope of them getting to engage in the worst kept secret of The Company and mix business with pleasure in their shared motel room. Instead he found himself alone in the bed, hearing Elle in the bathroom for half the night either throwing up the few chips she had snacked on from the vending machine with the ginger ale he had forced on her or in the shower trying to wash away her apparent flu.
Why he had agreed to let her drive he didn’t know. Maybe because he knew he would have been the one pulling over if she kept getting sick anyway, at least this way there was less risk of her getting any in the car. They were at least two hours behind schedule and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. If not for her power he would have taken her to the hospital himself, with her kicking and screaming the whole way if need be, but no he knew he would have to settle for The Company’s medical team to look her over and that would only be when they finally got back to New York.
Wordlessly Elle slammed her door shut and put the car back in gear and pulled back onto the highway. She kept her breathing even, desperate to at least get through the hour without another incident. She knew Bennet was irritated but she knew she had more reason to be. After all she was the one who was sick and being forced by her own body’s betrayal to repeatedly embarrass herself by having to pull over like this. As it was she had hardly seen him that weekend except for when he had gone to check on her and she in return had so politely yelled at him to leave her alone. Yes, for her that was polite, she decided. She could have electrocuted him out of the room but she hadn’t.
“Elle,” her companion griped when she pulled over again another half an hour later.
“Like I can help it,” she snapped as she opened her door.
Noah sighed as she retched again. This was too familiar. Way too familiar. It had been almost seventeen years since he had endured this and he was decidedly too old to go through it again. As it was he felt he still had screaming babies in diapers running around his house. He had kept his suspicion to himself all weekend, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Tell me it’s not mine,” he stated as Elle began to right herself again.
Slowly she sat back up and gripped the wheel for something to hold onto to steady herself. Wiping the side of her mouth with the back of her hand, she replied, “Okay, Bennet. It’s not yours.”
“Damn it, Elle!” he yelled as he hit the arm rest of his door with his palm out of frustration. Why did he have to be right?
“No, you are not going to blame me for this when you’re the one who claimed we didn’t have anything to worry about!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d react like this.”
The rest of the drive was spent in silence, both trying to process what had just happened. In about ten seconds Elle had told Noah what she had been trying to keep from him in the last two weeks since she had found out.
“Elle,” he finally called to her as she stormed out of the car and towards the building when they reached Primatech.
“What?” she nearly whined. Hadn’t he already said enough to her?
“Are you heading to the medical wing?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Look, Elle, don’t let my -” he paused, trying to decide on just the right word.
“Freak out?” she half-smiled.
“My uncertainty about this put you or the baby at risk. If you’re even thinking of keeping it and even if you’re not, just make sure you’re both alright.”
“Is this my partner or the father of my unborn child speaking?” Maybe it was a cruel question, but not undeservingly so.
“Both,” he breathed. “Please, Elle, just -”
“What do you want me to do? Tell me here and now what you want.” If she wasn’t going to become a mother so soon she wouldn’t be the only reason for it. It was only fair to ask him for his input.
“I want to stay alive,” he stated, his voice even, his eyes never leaving hers.
“It’s not like I plan on showing up on your doorstep, telling your wife or Claire about this.”
“What about your father? When he asks who’s made him a grandfather?”
She shrugged. “I could say it’s Adam’s, it’s not like Daddy could kill him even if he wanted to and he’d be impossible to find for a DNA test.”
“And what happens if he finds out it’s mine?”
“Bennet -” Why did everything have to be decided today?
“Be sensible, Elle. Don’t decide based just on what you or I want, make your decision based on our realities. At the end of the day I’m twice your age, married and work, basically, for your father. You are an amazing young woman with nothing but potential. Don’t let what you feel for me or your fantasies of a life with our child ruin that.”
Elle gave herself another week to make up her mind. And in that time her father had been murdered and Noah’s home life had already begun to take a turn for the worse given how much time he was still spending away from his family. While it was still far too soon for any kind of a victory lap, especially since Angela had fired her, she did know that there was one thing she still had and something she still wanted.
The End
Summary: Elle and secrets never did go well together. This time she has one for Noah.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 3x02
Disclaimer: Heroes is not owned by me, but by Tim Kring. I’m simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
~~
Where they were driving back from Elle couldn’t even remember. She just knew that it would be at least another hour before she and Bennet were back in New York. Another hour in which she had to keep sipping ice water to even try to curb her need to vomit.
“Not again,” Noah sighed when she pulled over just minutes later. She had been sick the whole weekend that they had been working, leaving him to do most of the work. Needless to say it had also killed the hope of them getting to engage in the worst kept secret of The Company and mix business with pleasure in their shared motel room. Instead he found himself alone in the bed, hearing Elle in the bathroom for half the night either throwing up the few chips she had snacked on from the vending machine with the ginger ale he had forced on her or in the shower trying to wash away her apparent flu.
Why he had agreed to let her drive he didn’t know. Maybe because he knew he would have been the one pulling over if she kept getting sick anyway, at least this way there was less risk of her getting any in the car. They were at least two hours behind schedule and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. If not for her power he would have taken her to the hospital himself, with her kicking and screaming the whole way if need be, but no he knew he would have to settle for The Company’s medical team to look her over and that would only be when they finally got back to New York.
Wordlessly Elle slammed her door shut and put the car back in gear and pulled back onto the highway. She kept her breathing even, desperate to at least get through the hour without another incident. She knew Bennet was irritated but she knew she had more reason to be. After all she was the one who was sick and being forced by her own body’s betrayal to repeatedly embarrass herself by having to pull over like this. As it was she had hardly seen him that weekend except for when he had gone to check on her and she in return had so politely yelled at him to leave her alone. Yes, for her that was polite, she decided. She could have electrocuted him out of the room but she hadn’t.
“Elle,” her companion griped when she pulled over again another half an hour later.
“Like I can help it,” she snapped as she opened her door.
Noah sighed as she retched again. This was too familiar. Way too familiar. It had been almost seventeen years since he had endured this and he was decidedly too old to go through it again. As it was he felt he still had screaming babies in diapers running around his house. He had kept his suspicion to himself all weekend, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Tell me it’s not mine,” he stated as Elle began to right herself again.
Slowly she sat back up and gripped the wheel for something to hold onto to steady herself. Wiping the side of her mouth with the back of her hand, she replied, “Okay, Bennet. It’s not yours.”
“Damn it, Elle!” he yelled as he hit the arm rest of his door with his palm out of frustration. Why did he have to be right?
“No, you are not going to blame me for this when you’re the one who claimed we didn’t have anything to worry about!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d react like this.”
The rest of the drive was spent in silence, both trying to process what had just happened. In about ten seconds Elle had told Noah what she had been trying to keep from him in the last two weeks since she had found out.
“Elle,” he finally called to her as she stormed out of the car and towards the building when they reached Primatech.
“What?” she nearly whined. Hadn’t he already said enough to her?
“Are you heading to the medical wing?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Look, Elle, don’t let my -” he paused, trying to decide on just the right word.
“Freak out?” she half-smiled.
“My uncertainty about this put you or the baby at risk. If you’re even thinking of keeping it and even if you’re not, just make sure you’re both alright.”
“Is this my partner or the father of my unborn child speaking?” Maybe it was a cruel question, but not undeservingly so.
“Both,” he breathed. “Please, Elle, just -”
“What do you want me to do? Tell me here and now what you want.” If she wasn’t going to become a mother so soon she wouldn’t be the only reason for it. It was only fair to ask him for his input.
“I want to stay alive,” he stated, his voice even, his eyes never leaving hers.
“It’s not like I plan on showing up on your doorstep, telling your wife or Claire about this.”
“What about your father? When he asks who’s made him a grandfather?”
She shrugged. “I could say it’s Adam’s, it’s not like Daddy could kill him even if he wanted to and he’d be impossible to find for a DNA test.”
“And what happens if he finds out it’s mine?”
“Bennet -” Why did everything have to be decided today?
“Be sensible, Elle. Don’t decide based just on what you or I want, make your decision based on our realities. At the end of the day I’m twice your age, married and work, basically, for your father. You are an amazing young woman with nothing but potential. Don’t let what you feel for me or your fantasies of a life with our child ruin that.”
Elle gave herself another week to make up her mind. And in that time her father had been murdered and Noah’s home life had already begun to take a turn for the worse given how much time he was still spending away from his family. While it was still far too soon for any kind of a victory lap, especially since Angela had fired her, she did know that there was one thing she still had and something she still wanted.
The End