Fic: These Lives That We've Tendered Away (Heroes)
These Lives That We've Tendered Away
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating: PG
Category: Petrellis. Sylar. Linderman. Most Likely AU.
Spoilers: "Parasite", with a small spoiler/spec derived from the trailer that played afterwards.
Disclaimer: My super power is that I own nothing of this I write about! Nifty, huh?
Summary: Claire was not the only baby that was placed in a new home.
“This is usually the point where people start screaming.” The technician said, gently pushing a lock of Sophia’s hair back from her face. “I’m impressed.”
Sophia’s only reply was an undignified grunt. Never one for small talk, the last thing she wanted do was make nicety nice chitchat while in the middle of labor.
And though her body strained and hurt like hell, it wasn’t anything like what she’d been through in the last few months.
Because her Momma raised her right, Sophia resisted the urge to spit in the technician’s face. The poor boy had no idea what real pain was.
****
Nathan wasn’t at home, Thank God. This would absolutely crush him. She had her concerns, before the baby was born, on how her son would handle another sibling after being an only child for so long. Angela’s fears had been misplaced, for Nathan loved his little brother to distraction. He was always carrying Peter, holding Peter, hell, he’d even changed a couple of diapers, even though they had people to do that.
But this morning she went to get Peter from his crib, and he wasn’t breathing. She tried CPR and yelled for a servant, but it was too late. Nothing could bring her baby back. Her Peter, her precious little Peter, was dead.
Angela broke the news to her husband over the phone- he was out of town on a business trip- he always seemed to be out of town on a business trip lately. He didn’t take the news well.
She sat, alone in the garden, wondering what in the hell she was going to tell Nathan.
“Angela?”
She turned around to see one of her husband’s clients standing there, a small bundle in his arms.
“Mr. Linderman?” Angela replied, hoping that she was remembering his name correctly. “I have to say that I’m not in a social mood at the moment, we’ve had a death in the family.”
“So your husband told me. What a terrible loss.”
“It was.”
“It pains me to see you, Mrs. Petrelli, a woman such as yourself, born to be a mother, so ungraciously separated from her child. Though I don’t pretend to understand the mysteries between life and death, I do believe that a bit of good can come out of even the most horrible of circumstances.”
“Oh?”
Linderman motioned to the bundle in his arms. “I happen to have become the guardian of this poor little child. Both of his parents were killed, and though I certainly have the financial means to raise him, I can’t even suggest that I have the expertise to be a parent. He needs things that I can’t give him. A tiny baby boy, without a family. And the Petrellis, a family without the tiny baby boy they need. It seems only natural that you should be together.”
“I can’t.” Angela said, remembering her perfect, beautiful, baby boy.
“Hold him, my dear. He was born the same day as your little boy, and his coloring is not so different from yours.”
Curosity got the best of her, and Angela approached Linderman. “I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm just to look at him.”
“No.” Linderman said, handing her the child. “It wouldn’t.”
Angela looked down at this baby, at his chubby little face. As she looked at him, the child opened his eyes, and his dark eyes looked up into her own.
She fell in love.
“Oh, Peter.” She said, brushing aside a lock of his dark hair. Her son.
****
Nathan returned home six weeks later, buzzing with excitement and a million and a half stories about his tour of Europe with his Grandma and Grandpa Petrelli.
As soon as he got in the door, Nathan threw his bags down and ran up the stairs to Peter’s nursery.
“He looks different!” Nathan said, looking down at the baby in the crib.
“Of course he does.” Angela insisted. “Babies grow up. You’ve been gone for a while, Nathan, it’s only natural that he would have change!”
“But..”
“Look, Nathan.” Angela said, drawing her son close. “Just because he looks different does not mean that he’s not your brother. Nothing will ever change that. Peter will always be your brother.”
****
The house was silent, and for the first time in his life, Gabriel Gray was truly alone. Friends of his parents had left him a house full of casseroles and plants; and his parents had willed him the apartment and the family business.
It felt strange to be alone.
On the table, there was a letter with his name on it, written in his mother’s handwriting. Her lawyer had dropped it off earlier that afternoon. Gabriel waited until the crowd of mourners had left.
He could wait no more, and tore into the envelope.
Dear Son;
As a parent, you always wonder when it is the right time to teach your children about the world. You worry about how to make them understand where they fit in, help them find their place in this crazy world. I have done my best to protect you, but at times, I wonder if I clung onto you tightly.
I taught you to tell the truth, while at the same time, I kept a secret from you.
I was not able to have children. I saw specialists and doctors, but they couldn’t do anything to help me.
Before you were born, I worked for many years for a businessman named Linderman, as his secretary. He was a wonderful and kind man-he loaned your father the money to start his business years ago. Linderman knew of my desire to have a child, and knew of my sorrow at not being able to have a child of my own.
Linderman gave you to me.
I know nothing of your birth parents, or how you came to be in Linderman’s custody. I only know that I never felt true happiness until the first time I held you in my arms. I was a mother. Shortly after your adoption, Linderman arranged for me to retire early, with full benefits and pension. I treasured being able to stay at home and raise you.
I wish that I had been brave enough to tell you all of this when I was alive, but I was afraid. I know these words can be of little comfort, Gabriel, but you have always been loved, by both your father and I.
I feel confident that you will make a great impact on the world- with your talent, and skill. Whether or not you continue in the family business, you my son, will be great. And you will always be loved.
Love,
Mom
Hot tears of rage poured down Gabriel’s face. He was twenty years old, alone in the world, and had no idea of who in the hell he was.
****
“Let me see them.” Sophia demanded, having recovered from the brunt of the recovery. “My babies.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that….”
“Let. Me. See. My. Babies.” She demanded. “Now.”
“But…”
“Let her see them.” Linderman said from the corner. “She deserves to see them.”
The technician brought them close and placed them both in her arms, two little squirming bundles, red faced and crying. Their heads were covered with a layer of dark fuzzy hair.
She kissed their tiny faces, and breathed in their baby scent. Her twins. Her beautiful boys, just as she dreamed they would be.
“Goodbye.” She whispered to them softly.
Sophia already knew the outcome. She’d already dreamed this future.
****
“This is normally the point where people start screaming.” Sylar said, as he sliced into Peter’s skull with his mind.
Peter didn’t respond. His mind whirled, remembering the night in Odessa. He tried to picture Claire. Claire could heal, if he could focus on her, then he could heal too. He could survive.
His eyes locked with his tormentor’s. Brown eyes met brown, and all thoughts of Claire flew out of his head. And something happened, for suddenly those eyes looked familiar, like he was someone Peter should remember, but couldn’t.
Sylar flinched and grabbed his head, as a wave of searing pain wove through his body. “What in the hell did you do?” He screamed.
Peter couldn’t reply. His head was no longer bleeding, but his skin was marred. He hadn’t healed completely, as a screaming red scar across his forehead would forever attest.
Strangely enough, his scar had a twin, now forming on Sylar’s head, as Sylar knelt on the floor, straining for support.
Mohinder’s body fell to the floor with a resounding thud.
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating: PG
Category: Petrellis. Sylar. Linderman. Most Likely AU.
Spoilers: "Parasite", with a small spoiler/spec derived from the trailer that played afterwards.
Disclaimer: My super power is that I own nothing of this I write about! Nifty, huh?
Summary: Claire was not the only baby that was placed in a new home.
“This is usually the point where people start screaming.” The technician said, gently pushing a lock of Sophia’s hair back from her face. “I’m impressed.”
Sophia’s only reply was an undignified grunt. Never one for small talk, the last thing she wanted do was make nicety nice chitchat while in the middle of labor.
And though her body strained and hurt like hell, it wasn’t anything like what she’d been through in the last few months.
Because her Momma raised her right, Sophia resisted the urge to spit in the technician’s face. The poor boy had no idea what real pain was.
****
Nathan wasn’t at home, Thank God. This would absolutely crush him. She had her concerns, before the baby was born, on how her son would handle another sibling after being an only child for so long. Angela’s fears had been misplaced, for Nathan loved his little brother to distraction. He was always carrying Peter, holding Peter, hell, he’d even changed a couple of diapers, even though they had people to do that.
But this morning she went to get Peter from his crib, and he wasn’t breathing. She tried CPR and yelled for a servant, but it was too late. Nothing could bring her baby back. Her Peter, her precious little Peter, was dead.
Angela broke the news to her husband over the phone- he was out of town on a business trip- he always seemed to be out of town on a business trip lately. He didn’t take the news well.
She sat, alone in the garden, wondering what in the hell she was going to tell Nathan.
“Angela?”
She turned around to see one of her husband’s clients standing there, a small bundle in his arms.
“Mr. Linderman?” Angela replied, hoping that she was remembering his name correctly. “I have to say that I’m not in a social mood at the moment, we’ve had a death in the family.”
“So your husband told me. What a terrible loss.”
“It was.”
“It pains me to see you, Mrs. Petrelli, a woman such as yourself, born to be a mother, so ungraciously separated from her child. Though I don’t pretend to understand the mysteries between life and death, I do believe that a bit of good can come out of even the most horrible of circumstances.”
“Oh?”
Linderman motioned to the bundle in his arms. “I happen to have become the guardian of this poor little child. Both of his parents were killed, and though I certainly have the financial means to raise him, I can’t even suggest that I have the expertise to be a parent. He needs things that I can’t give him. A tiny baby boy, without a family. And the Petrellis, a family without the tiny baby boy they need. It seems only natural that you should be together.”
“I can’t.” Angela said, remembering her perfect, beautiful, baby boy.
“Hold him, my dear. He was born the same day as your little boy, and his coloring is not so different from yours.”
Curosity got the best of her, and Angela approached Linderman. “I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm just to look at him.”
“No.” Linderman said, handing her the child. “It wouldn’t.”
Angela looked down at this baby, at his chubby little face. As she looked at him, the child opened his eyes, and his dark eyes looked up into her own.
She fell in love.
“Oh, Peter.” She said, brushing aside a lock of his dark hair. Her son.
****
Nathan returned home six weeks later, buzzing with excitement and a million and a half stories about his tour of Europe with his Grandma and Grandpa Petrelli.
As soon as he got in the door, Nathan threw his bags down and ran up the stairs to Peter’s nursery.
“He looks different!” Nathan said, looking down at the baby in the crib.
“Of course he does.” Angela insisted. “Babies grow up. You’ve been gone for a while, Nathan, it’s only natural that he would have change!”
“But..”
“Look, Nathan.” Angela said, drawing her son close. “Just because he looks different does not mean that he’s not your brother. Nothing will ever change that. Peter will always be your brother.”
****
The house was silent, and for the first time in his life, Gabriel Gray was truly alone. Friends of his parents had left him a house full of casseroles and plants; and his parents had willed him the apartment and the family business.
It felt strange to be alone.
On the table, there was a letter with his name on it, written in his mother’s handwriting. Her lawyer had dropped it off earlier that afternoon. Gabriel waited until the crowd of mourners had left.
He could wait no more, and tore into the envelope.
Dear Son;
As a parent, you always wonder when it is the right time to teach your children about the world. You worry about how to make them understand where they fit in, help them find their place in this crazy world. I have done my best to protect you, but at times, I wonder if I clung onto you tightly.
I taught you to tell the truth, while at the same time, I kept a secret from you.
I was not able to have children. I saw specialists and doctors, but they couldn’t do anything to help me.
Before you were born, I worked for many years for a businessman named Linderman, as his secretary. He was a wonderful and kind man-he loaned your father the money to start his business years ago. Linderman knew of my desire to have a child, and knew of my sorrow at not being able to have a child of my own.
Linderman gave you to me.
I know nothing of your birth parents, or how you came to be in Linderman’s custody. I only know that I never felt true happiness until the first time I held you in my arms. I was a mother. Shortly after your adoption, Linderman arranged for me to retire early, with full benefits and pension. I treasured being able to stay at home and raise you.
I wish that I had been brave enough to tell you all of this when I was alive, but I was afraid. I know these words can be of little comfort, Gabriel, but you have always been loved, by both your father and I.
I feel confident that you will make a great impact on the world- with your talent, and skill. Whether or not you continue in the family business, you my son, will be great. And you will always be loved.
Love,
Mom
Hot tears of rage poured down Gabriel’s face. He was twenty years old, alone in the world, and had no idea of who in the hell he was.
****
“Let me see them.” Sophia demanded, having recovered from the brunt of the recovery. “My babies.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that….”
“Let. Me. See. My. Babies.” She demanded. “Now.”
“But…”
“Let her see them.” Linderman said from the corner. “She deserves to see them.”
The technician brought them close and placed them both in her arms, two little squirming bundles, red faced and crying. Their heads were covered with a layer of dark fuzzy hair.
She kissed their tiny faces, and breathed in their baby scent. Her twins. Her beautiful boys, just as she dreamed they would be.
“Goodbye.” She whispered to them softly.
Sophia already knew the outcome. She’d already dreamed this future.
****
“This is normally the point where people start screaming.” Sylar said, as he sliced into Peter’s skull with his mind.
Peter didn’t respond. His mind whirled, remembering the night in Odessa. He tried to picture Claire. Claire could heal, if he could focus on her, then he could heal too. He could survive.
His eyes locked with his tormentor’s. Brown eyes met brown, and all thoughts of Claire flew out of his head. And something happened, for suddenly those eyes looked familiar, like he was someone Peter should remember, but couldn’t.
Sylar flinched and grabbed his head, as a wave of searing pain wove through his body. “What in the hell did you do?” He screamed.
Peter couldn’t reply. His head was no longer bleeding, but his skin was marred. He hadn’t healed completely, as a screaming red scar across his forehead would forever attest.
Strangely enough, his scar had a twin, now forming on Sylar’s head, as Sylar knelt on the floor, straining for support.
Mohinder’s body fell to the floor with a resounding thud.