[heroes] Evolution: Volume III
The Hiro Nakamura Edition.
Title: As it Began
Pairing: Hiro Nakamura/Adam Monroe
Rating: PG
Summary: In an hour, Daphne Millbrook, Ando Masahashi, and a younger Hiro Nakamura will walk in off the street like lost children...
Hiro had long ago learned to blend into shadow. They are the best camouflage, after all: abundant everywhere and utterly overlooked. If your eyes are dark enough you can all but become it; no one ever notices you.
It is an especially useful skill in places accustomed to darkness, such as the crowded bar he’s just materialised in. Neon tubes shaped to form letters and logos illuminate the sweat on peoples’ faces and outline their silhouettes on the floor. Hiro can tell at a glance which of them are evolved and which are not: in establishments like this, people with abilities conduct themselves with confidence, and those without - those looking to hire - fold in on themselves for fear of becoming examples of Darwinism.
Some of them discuss their business openly, almost proudly, while others prefer their secrecy. Darkly clothed and alone, he attracts no attention, as he keeps his eyes on a blond man hunched in a bar stool. He fiddles with one shotglass, half a dozen others lined in front of him like a firing squad.
Adam Monroe. In an hour, Daphne Millbrook, Ando Masahashi, and a younger Hiro Nakamura will walk in off the street like lost children - and before the night is out, the indestructible man will be dead.
Hiro would like to say goodbye. He would like to apologise one last time. He would like to say that Yaeko loved him, while meaning that his neglected, carp-faced little underling had loved him before realising how many different kinds of love there are. He would like to cut off his head just to take the honour away from Arthur Petrelli, the undeserving parasite. There are plenty of things he would like to do, but the shadows cling to him like shackles, so he only watches as Adam spends the last hours of his long life in the most honest manner he is still capable of.
Title: Voluntary Captivity
Pairing: Ando Higurashi/girl!Hiro Nakamura
Rating: G
Summary: Ando couldn’t recall how he’d gotten himself dragged along for this.
“But that’s how Superman does it!”
“Hiro,” Ando said, tone stretched taut by constrained contention, “you are not Superman. You are not even a man!”
Hiro’s pout deepened almost comically, and it tempted Ando to smile. She turned away and began banging on the door again.
“I’m not who you think I am!” she yelled to their captors on the other side. “I’m just a journalist!”
“You’re even using Superman’s cover!” Ando whispered incredulously, and she shot him an accusing glare, as if he were revealing her master plan. “Couldn’t you have come up with something else? What’s Supergirl’s cover?”
“No one cares about Supergirl,” Hiro said offhandedly, jiggling the doorknob. The fake glasses rattled and fell further down her nose - they were even rectangular, like Clark Kent’s. Ando couldn’t recall how he’d gotten himself dragged along for this. “Superman sells much more comics.”
“I care about Supergirl,” he said, unsure why he was trying to comfort the best friend that was going to get them killed by the end of the night.
“Only because she looks good in spandex.”
“Then you have that in common.” Her eyes narrowed at him the way they did whenever Ando threw a just-barely-lewd comment at her, then her face softened and her frown became real. She fell back against the door and sunk to the ground.
“This never would have happened if I still had my powers,” she said sadly. “Right now, we’d be in the Hiromobile, and I’d use my power to beat up bad guys stealing purses. And these guys,” she gave the door a weak knock, “would be tied up with a note to the police!”
“Like Spiderman,” Ando said tiredly and ambled over to sit beside her. He nudged her playfully with his elbow. “Why can’t you ever just be Hiro? You saved the world, remember? People should want to be like you.”
The tiny twitch in her cheek told him she was fighting a smile, and losing fast. “Yeah, I helped save the cheerleader. But I had my powers then.”
“And what about me?” he asked, faking affront. “I helped save the cheerleader too!”
“I know!” she quickly corrected. “I couldn’t have done it without you!”
“And I didn’t have any powers,” he said, getting to his knees with a pop. He extended a hand toward her and grinned. “So, then, how would Super-Hiro get this door open?”
Her smile widened brightly and she grabbed his hand, jumping to her feet. Immediately she placed a finger to her chin, dramatically in thought. “Well, first, she’d need the help of the Amazing Ando…”
Title: As it Began
Pairing: Hiro Nakamura/Adam Monroe
Rating: PG
Summary: In an hour, Daphne Millbrook, Ando Masahashi, and a younger Hiro Nakamura will walk in off the street like lost children...
Hiro had long ago learned to blend into shadow. They are the best camouflage, after all: abundant everywhere and utterly overlooked. If your eyes are dark enough you can all but become it; no one ever notices you.
It is an especially useful skill in places accustomed to darkness, such as the crowded bar he’s just materialised in. Neon tubes shaped to form letters and logos illuminate the sweat on peoples’ faces and outline their silhouettes on the floor. Hiro can tell at a glance which of them are evolved and which are not: in establishments like this, people with abilities conduct themselves with confidence, and those without - those looking to hire - fold in on themselves for fear of becoming examples of Darwinism.
Some of them discuss their business openly, almost proudly, while others prefer their secrecy. Darkly clothed and alone, he attracts no attention, as he keeps his eyes on a blond man hunched in a bar stool. He fiddles with one shotglass, half a dozen others lined in front of him like a firing squad.
Adam Monroe. In an hour, Daphne Millbrook, Ando Masahashi, and a younger Hiro Nakamura will walk in off the street like lost children - and before the night is out, the indestructible man will be dead.
Hiro would like to say goodbye. He would like to apologise one last time. He would like to say that Yaeko loved him, while meaning that his neglected, carp-faced little underling had loved him before realising how many different kinds of love there are. He would like to cut off his head just to take the honour away from Arthur Petrelli, the undeserving parasite. There are plenty of things he would like to do, but the shadows cling to him like shackles, so he only watches as Adam spends the last hours of his long life in the most honest manner he is still capable of.
Title: Voluntary Captivity
Pairing: Ando Higurashi/girl!Hiro Nakamura
Rating: G
Summary: Ando couldn’t recall how he’d gotten himself dragged along for this.
“But that’s how Superman does it!”
“Hiro,” Ando said, tone stretched taut by constrained contention, “you are not Superman. You are not even a man!”
Hiro’s pout deepened almost comically, and it tempted Ando to smile. She turned away and began banging on the door again.
“I’m not who you think I am!” she yelled to their captors on the other side. “I’m just a journalist!”
“You’re even using Superman’s cover!” Ando whispered incredulously, and she shot him an accusing glare, as if he were revealing her master plan. “Couldn’t you have come up with something else? What’s Supergirl’s cover?”
“No one cares about Supergirl,” Hiro said offhandedly, jiggling the doorknob. The fake glasses rattled and fell further down her nose - they were even rectangular, like Clark Kent’s. Ando couldn’t recall how he’d gotten himself dragged along for this. “Superman sells much more comics.”
“I care about Supergirl,” he said, unsure why he was trying to comfort the best friend that was going to get them killed by the end of the night.
“Only because she looks good in spandex.”
“Then you have that in common.” Her eyes narrowed at him the way they did whenever Ando threw a just-barely-lewd comment at her, then her face softened and her frown became real. She fell back against the door and sunk to the ground.
“This never would have happened if I still had my powers,” she said sadly. “Right now, we’d be in the Hiromobile, and I’d use my power to beat up bad guys stealing purses. And these guys,” she gave the door a weak knock, “would be tied up with a note to the police!”
“Like Spiderman,” Ando said tiredly and ambled over to sit beside her. He nudged her playfully with his elbow. “Why can’t you ever just be Hiro? You saved the world, remember? People should want to be like you.”
The tiny twitch in her cheek told him she was fighting a smile, and losing fast. “Yeah, I helped save the cheerleader. But I had my powers then.”
“And what about me?” he asked, faking affront. “I helped save the cheerleader too!”
“I know!” she quickly corrected. “I couldn’t have done it without you!”
“And I didn’t have any powers,” he said, getting to his knees with a pop. He extended a hand toward her and grinned. “So, then, how would Super-Hiro get this door open?”
Her smile widened brightly and she grabbed his hand, jumping to her feet. Immediately she placed a finger to her chin, dramatically in thought. “Well, first, she’d need the help of the Amazing Ando…”