Fic: One More Battle of Wits (Mohinder, Sylar, PG-13, gen)

[squills]

Title: One More Battle of Wits
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2800
Characters: Mohinder, Sylar
Warnings: Violence, off-screen character deaths
Spoilers: Through 1.20, "Five Years Gone"
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not writing this for profit.
A/N: This is written for the

Comments

[violet_anchovy]

Oh, man, poor Mohinder, stuck fighting alone. This fic... kind of depresses me, because all odds are against him, and I don't know if it's better or worse that it ends at a point where he hasn't given up.

[squills]

I can't think about timelines and how they function on this show too long because my head starts to cave in. So I can't figure out if all this action is really null and void because Hiro's back in the past getting ready to change it all, or if there are essentially alternate universes being created by Hiro's messing around, and in this universe, Sylar will indeed continue triumphing, and Mohinder will have to struggle along with the trauma and pretty much everyone else he knows is dead

[barhaven]

I've got four things in process that are angstily romantic - five if you count the zombie thing - but I can't get anywhere with them because I just can't get into the proper frame of mind for "angsty romance".

Wanna trade zombies? I've been banging my head against mine for two weeks with no progress. :P (Damn uncooperative walking dead...)

[squills]

OMG. What is so frustrating about the zombies is that I have the entire fic mapped out, and I know exactly what is going to happen (barring Sylar taking over and changing things again, of course). But when I sit down to write it...nothing comes out. I dither over word choices and sentence structure, and take 90 minutes to write 3 paragraphs, and then give up and ignore it for days. I really can't figure out where the block is, in my brain. Maybe it's just that it's spring now and my mind would rather be outside in the sunshine?

[barhaven]

I can't decide what's worse about those alternate futures: the notion that Hiro and Peter are destroying entire worlds and timelines by screwing with the past, or the idea that they're NOT destroying them, and everyone in them is still stuck living in their horrible nightmare dystopia. (Oh, Mohinder and his good intentions... Sometimes I think that if anyone is going to end up responsible for a potential apocalypse or dystopia - even indirectly - it's going to be him.)

You did a good job of making me depressed here. I mean that in a good way. ;) Mohinder is probably the closest thing Sylar would have to a weak point at this stage, but Sylar's just giving him the chance as a formality. Or to amuse himself. Mo will still try, but he's so very, very screwed.

(There's still hope, future!Mohinder! Maybe the old drugged chai trick will work a second time.)

[squills]

Oh, Mohinder and his good intentions... Sometimes I think that if anyone is going to end up responsible for a potential apocalypse or dystopia - even indirectly - it's going to be him.

I wish I could remember now who it was that pointed out that the entire Suresh family seems to be a catalyst for horror, without meaning to: little Shanti led the Company to the virus, Chandra created Sylar, Mohinder led Sylar to more victims and planted the seed of genocide. But, yeah. What makes Sylar tragic is that there are so many "if only things had happened a tiny bit differently" moments, where he might have been turned aside. What makes Mohinder tragic is that he's the living embodiment of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions

[barhaven]

I wish I could remember now who it was that pointed out that the entire Suresh family seems to be a catalyst for horror, without meaning to: little Shanti led the Company to the virus, Chandra created Sylar, Mohinder led Sylar to more victims and planted the seed of genocide.

Well, I pointed it out in that one drabble, but I'm sure lots of other people have pointed it out too. The Suresh family seems to be destined to bring about an Apocalypse or two. Or have a hand in it, at least. Between Shanti, Chandra, and Mohinder, they've been catalyst after catalyst for disasters with horrific consequences. Usually with those hell-paving good intentions guiding the way

[squills]

There was a discussion about the Sureshes a month or two ago where this point got touched on, too - I can't remember now if it was at TWoP or in someone's LJ. Poor Mohinder. If he ever had kids, I'd like to see 20 years in the future to see if they continue the family legacy.

Rat poison + headshot + wood chipper for good measure = problem solved, heh
Messy and inelegant, but still preferable to being the reluctant right-hand man of a serial killer for the next 40 years!

Actually, after writing that limo speech, I totally went into a "Return of the Jedi" space. You know, that speech that the Emperor gives Luke, about fulfilling his destiny and taking his father's place at the Emperor's side? (I'm sure that imagery has been used elsewhere before, too...)

[levitatethis]

Oh man, where do I begin

[squills]

Thank you! :0) I started this about 6 weeks ago and I can't remember now what sparked it, but during the writing I kept thinking about what we saw in canon: that for whatever reason, Sylar kept Mohinder close, and worked hard to keep Mohinder actively involved in his plans. So I tried hard to keep this as much in the spirit of canon as possible

[levitatethis]

"Even though the events of "Powerless" didn't happen in this universe, we still know Mohinder is more than capable of outsmarting him. Plus, if Sylar wins and breaks him, he wouldn't be the same person; and of course if Mohinder wins, Sylar would be dead. Sylar enjoys this game for the game's sake, but on a deeper level, I think he'd prolong the game as long as possible because neither of those outcomes is what he wants. And there's where Mohinder has a chance, because Sylar will not only want to toy with him, he'll be trying to find ways to force Mohinder to behave the way he wants instead of crushing him...and sooner or later in that process, he'll give Mohinder too much of an opening."I agree with this sentiment. The fight, the struggle, the back and forth is as much an intentionally drawn out characteristic of their relationship as anything else. Sylar wants Mohinder to be under his thumb but he also wants Mohinder to see his own willingness to comply, he wants Mohinder to want to side with him. It allows for that loophole...

[widestance75]

I quite enjoyed this. All on Mohinder to save the world! One more battle of wits! Yay!

I love a good violent, vengeful eeeevil Sylar... enjoying those phone calls from Peter! HA!

I love how you got in some lines that would totally show up on the show - because they can easily be misinterpreted by people like us. How long do you think it will be before someone asks how you could have worked with Sylar for so many months, all those days, all those nights, and never figured it out? You know after a line like that everyone would be online all, OMG nights!

I liked the Mylar banter in this one. Nice job!

[squills]

I love a good violent, vengeful eeeevil Sylar... enjoying those phone calls from Peter! HA!
This was a fic that I knew roughly how I wanted it to go, but as I wrote, there were several surprises that came out of nowhere, and that was one of them. But I can totally believe that even though Peter was hiding, he had to have at least telephone contact with his brother. And I can totally see Sylar sitting through those calls and subtly twisting the things he says to Peter to make him feel even worse, and loving every minute of it. And of course, poor Peter would have no idea who he was really talking to, and would think he was just making himself feel worse, because dear sweet Nathan is his support!

I love how you got in some lines that would totally show up on the show - because they can easily be misinterpreted by people like us.
This is a totally non-slash universe, but...man, I think it is impossible to put the two of them together and NOT have things said and done that are suggestive. Seriously. And with "all those nights" I

[widestance75]

And I can totally see Sylar sitting through those calls and subtly twisting the things he says to Peter to make him feel even worse, and loving every minute of it.
Exactly what I was thinking reading it. I was imagining the calls where "Nathan" would console Peter but then say things to make him feel worse. Just the general toying that Evil!Sylar does.

Yeah this was so great because it was so canon - up to and including double-entendre slash-riffic sentences, even in a non-slash universe.

[megmatthews20]

Ooooooh, I like this!

I didn't start liking FYG fics til recently, but there's something really fascinating about them...

And this one is no exception. In fact, I think this one is the closest to canon FYG fic I've seen yet. You really nailed their characters, and though I'm worried for Mohinder (and what Sylar has planned for him) I think he just might be able to fend for himself...maybe...possibly...if Sylar plays fair...(which probably won't happen :p)

Great fic!

cheers

[squills]

Thank you, so much! This was one fic where staying as close to canon as possible was really important to me, so I'm very glad that it felt that way!

I don't do a lot with the 5YG universe because I feel like it's more limited: the next five years are pretty much mapped out, and quite a few of the characters were killed in the explosion or are killed off during the episode. But it's fun to go there every so often. I wish I could remember exactly what prompted this fic, but I really liked the idea of how Sylar would react if he won the fight with Peter. Would he just disappear and enjoy his powers, and start plotting a new scheme? Or would he try to hold onto the power he'd gained as "Nathan"? And would he be able to leave Mohinder...

I'm glad you liked this one!