(no subject)
Title: Memories and Dust (4/?)
Fandom: Heroes (Future, AU-ish)
Characters: Molly, Micah, Matt, Mohinder, Jacob (OC)
Rating: PG-13 for language
Disclaimer: If I owned Matt and Mohinder, Matt would be cleaning my room while Mohinder cooked me dinner. Unfortunately, I don't. Looks like ramen for dinner and a dirty bedroom for a little while longer. D:
Summary: What can I say to him that won’t make him hate me? “Welcome to the Evolved Orphans’ Club, here’s your membership card?”
A/N: This chapter definitely got away from me a bit. Molly started talking and just wouldn't. shut. up.
Previous Chapters: Prologue | One | Two | Three
Chapter Four: Orphans
April 21, 2021
Brooklyn, NY
Molly had started to worry the second her dads called her and invited her over for dinner. Not that it was unusual for her to eat over there. She was there most weekends, and occasionally stopped by during the week. It was the tone of voice that Matt had used - the falsely cheery one that meant there was some sort of news that was too big to break over the phone. The last time she’d heard his voice like that, Noah Bennet's body had been found in the Columbia River.
Not again, she thought. Please, God, not again. Who was it this time? Matt and Mohinder had both talked to her, and she’d know if something happened to Micah. She immediately started looking for everyone she knew.
Claire was in Tuscon, eating dinner with her mother and her daughter Grace. Her brother Lyle was camping in Big Sur. Monty and Simon were in Boston and New York, both studying for their midterms. Damon was in Baton Rouge. Hiro, Singapore. Ando and his wife Toshiko, Osaka. Peter, Barcelona. They all seemed fine, going about their daily lives as if nothing was wrong, but she must have forgotten someone. During the subway ride, she kept looking, trying desperately to remember who she might have missed.
She managed to keep herself mostly together until she actually got to the old apartment. Matt was the one to answer the door, and she wasn’t able to stop herself from flinging herself into his embrace like she was ten years old again.
“Whoa, honey. I missed you too.” Matt sounded pleasantly surprised, which she wasn’t expecting.
“Who was it? Who died this time?” she asked.
Matt’s arms impulsively tightened around her, but it was Mohinder who answered.
“It was Janice.”
Molly leaned back far enough so she could stare at her other father. “Who?”
Matt sighed, and disentangled himself from Molly’s embrace. “My ex-wife. From L.A.”
Mohinder came forward and gave her a hug. She was so relieved, she hardly noticed.
“I’m sorry we worried you,” he told her.
“No, it’s okay,” she said. She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s just that you guys sounded like-”
Like someone important had died. She managed to stop the words from coming out of her mouth, but that didn’t really matter when there was a telepath in the room. Dad had mostly learned to control what he heard or saw, but when it was just the three of them, he usually let his guard down. And she’d been projecting it really loudly.
She saw the hurt look on Matt’s face, and immediately felt like a huge jerk.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it like that.”
He slung an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the temple. “I know, honey. It’s fine, I understand.”
“I’ve just been freaking out since you guys called me,” Molly said, leaning into his embrace gratefully. “I was convinced there’d been another catastrophe or something and everyone was dead. Again.”
Molly knew her anxiety for her friends and family bordered on paranoia. But once you considered how many people that she’d cared about had been murdered or shot or tortured, occasionally right in front of her, it felt completely justified.
Matt sat her down at the kitchen table. “I told you, I understand. You only met Janice, what? Twice, in the hospital? And you were a kid.”
“And afterwards,” Mohinder added, “She wasn’t a very popular subject for conversation.”
Matt gave him a dirty look, and Mohinder returned it with his patented wry smile. The two of them moved to the other side of the table and took their seats, sharing a long look on the way.
Molly’s eyes flicked back and forth between them. Her suspicions that they were carrying on a silent conversation were confirmed when Mohinder suddenly rolled his eyes for no reason she could see.
“Ahem,” she said haughtily. “Prodigal daughter here, home for dinner. Would appreciate being included in the conversation.”
Both men looked at her, slightly embarrassed. They shared another look.
“What is it?” Molly asked, immediately starting to worry again. “What haven’t you told me?”
Matt leaned forward and took one of Molly’s hands in both of his. “Do you remember why Janice and I got divorced?”
Molly furrowed her brow. It had been so long since she’d even thought about her dad’s other life, before he manifested, living with his wife in Los Angeles. Thinking about him in California inevitably brought up memories of her childhood there, and its brutal ending at the hands of Sylar. So when she thought of Matt, it was here in New York, in the tiny apartment that had become a haven with him and Mohinder; watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, eating pizza in the living room with their feet on the coffee table when Mohinder was away, walking in Prospect Park with all the other families, the trees in vivid fall colors.
“Yeah,” she said, suddenly remembering. Matt had never told her directly, but she’d overheard her fathers talking about it one night, after she’d gone to bed. “She was pregnant, with someone else’s baby.”
Matt nodded. “Jacob,” he said. “He’s thirteen now.”
“We got a call from a lawyer last night,” Mohinder said, taking up the conversation when Matt faltered. “Janice’s will specified that she wanted Matt to be his guardian if she died.”
It took Molly about thirty seconds to realize the full extent of what that meant.
“Ohmygod,” she blurted out. “Are you serious? Because if this is some kind of really elaborate joke-”
“Not a joke,” Dad assured her.
“Except maybe a cosmic one,” Mohinder added from the other side of the table.
“Ha ha, Suresh,” Matt said. “Very funny.”
Molly managed a weak smile for her fathers, but internally, she felt kind of…
She had no idea how she felt. She had no idea how she should feel. In Molly’s mind, it had been the three of them against the entire world for a long time. To know that there would soon be some kind of unknown element in the equation was disconcerting. To say the least.
“Hey,” Matt said, squeezing her hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Molly said, coming out of her daze. “I think I’m in shock a little. This is all kind of, you know. Sudden.”
“You’re telling me,” Mohinder said.
Molly chewed on her lip, trying to get her bearings. “Do you have a picture of him? Of Jacob?” she asked. She was hoping that seeing him would bring a much-needed sense of reality to the whole situation.
Matt and Mohinder shared another look, and then Matt got up and went into the bedroom. He returned with a manila folder, crammed with papers, which he opened on the table. He extracted a picture from the mess of legal forms and handed it to Molly.
She looked at him, at Jacob; took in the wide smile, the tanned skin, the unkempt hair. But it wasn’t enough. The picture didn’t tell her what she needed to know. She wanted to see him.
“Matt,” Mohinder said. “Why don’t we get dinner started?”
And everyone assumed there was only one mind-reader in the family. Molly wasn’t entirely convinced that telepathy wasn’t a little contagious.
“Yeah,” Matt said, jumping up. “Good idea, it’s getting late. Molly, why don’t you…” He made a brief, waving gesture.
“I’m going to say goodbye to my room, I guess.” Molly assumed they weren’t going to force Jacob to sleep on the couch, after all. And it was a good excuse to be alone. “Let me know if you need any help.”
Mohinder kissed her on the top of her head. “We’ll call you if Matt sets the kitchen on fire.
Molly smiled as she stood up. Her dads were already bickering about who would chop what as she walked into her old bedroom. She shut the door softly behind her and sat down on the bed. She stared up at the constellations of plastic star that had been stuck to the ceiling for the last twelve years for a while, then glanced back at the picture in her hands.
She closed her eyes, letting her other sight drift across the continent to California, and sought out Jacob.
She found a boy alone in a room. He was curled up on a small bed in what was obviously someone’s rarely-used guest room, tastefully decorated but as lifeless as a motel.
He was staring blankly at the wall. He had earphones on, but she heard no music coming from them, and the iPod attached to them was dark. The difference between this boy and the kid in the picture was so startling that for a moment, she doubted herself.
She took a closer look. He’d lost weight of an already skinny frame, and the tan had faded. The hair that had only been unkempt in the picture was lank and dirty.
As she watched, Jacob quickly wiped a hand across his face. She looked closer and saw that he’d been crying silently, tears leaking out from his eyes. The look on his face was blank and desolate.
Molly withdrew quickly, embarrassed to have seen something so vulnerable and personal as a thirteen year old suffering in quiet grief. Memories of the months after her own parents, her first parents, had been killed came back to her in a fresh wave of grief. Guilt for not having thought about them in so long followed it. She stared up at the stars stuck to her ceiling again, swallowing back tears.
There was a knock at the door. Molly cleared her throat. “Yeah?”
The door cracked open. “Molls?” Matt asked. “You all right?”
Molly bit her lip. “He was so sad,” she said.
The door opened the rest of the way, and her dad came into the room and sat on her bed. He put a hand on her head, stroking her hair the way that he used to when she’d wake up from nightmares or a fever. “Brought back memories?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, though,” she said, even though she knew he would. “I’m resilient.”
Matt smiled at her. “I know.”
They both sat in silence for a while before Molly spoke again.
“So what are you going to do?” she asked finally. “Is he coming straight here or what?”
“We’re flying out to California in two days. We’re going to go to Janice’s funeral, and then Jacob’s coming back with us.”
“I want to come,” Molly said immediately.
Matt raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure? What about work?”
Molly had been driving an ambulance for the last eight months to pay off her student loans, in addition to occasionally working for the Company. Mohinder, having finally gotten a seat on the board of directors, had gotten her and Micah jobs.
“This counts as a family emergency. And Appa’s my boss at the Company, so I doubt that’ll be a problem. I’m coming.”
Matt smiled at her. “All right.” Then his brow furrowed, and his expression turned serious again. “There’s probably a few other things you should know…”
April 23, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
The feeling of impending doom didn’t really hit Molly until after they’d checked into a hotel on the outskirts of L.A. They’d be meeting Jacob for the first time tomorrow, a couple of hours before Janice’s funeral. Both Matt and Mohinder had passed out early in one of the double beds, leaving Molly with only her thoughts and the television to keep her company.
All of a sudden, it hit her. Everything was about to change. Again. And she wasn’t entirely sure she was up to it.
So she did what she always did when everything got to be a bit too much: looked for Micah. She found her best friend in her dads’ apartment. He’d offered to redecorate Molly’s old room while they were gone, in order to make it palatable enough for a thirteen year old boy.
She’d half expected to find him still at work; Micah had suffered from insomnia for years, and she didn’t doubt he’d be awake, even at two in the morning. Instead he was in the kitchen, sitting at the table her dads had had for years, at his laptop. Perfect. She opened her own laptop and sent off a quick email to him. All it said was: I need to talk or I’m going to go crazy.
Twenty seconds later, a messenger window popped up on her screen.
You’re still awake? Thought you’d be asleep.
I’m too wired to sleep. Can’t believe I’m going to meet him tomorrow. Son of the evil ex-partner and eviler ex-wife.
You’re still angry at Janice? Micah had, of course, heard her rant and rave about the woman who had stabbed her dad in the back and broken his heart in the space of a few months. And for what? Matt had shown her the letter, and Molly didn’t buy the woman’s bullshit for a minute.
I just can’t believe that she would do that to Matt. Lie about the paternity test, I mean, just so she’d get him to agree to a divorce. With parents like that, I’m amazed Jacob doesn’t have horns and a forked tail.
Molly saw Micah snort laughter. He’s not the Antichrist, Molly.
She tapped the keys of her laptop, but didn’t write anything for a moment. Finally, she said, He could be. That’s what Hiro said, remember? He’s got some kind of ability apparently, and I’d guess a powerful one. Add that to the fact that he’s just lost his Mom and is meeting all of us for the first time. I’m going to be surprised if we all come out of this alive.
Micah’s brows furrowed as he typed his response. You really are worried about this, aren’t you?
She started to type that she wasn’t, not really, it was just a joke. Then she realized that Micah was right.
Yes, she typed. I don’t know why. I just can’t help feeling like it’s the end of the world. AGAIN. I can’t stand it. I shouldn’t have come.
In the New York apartment, she saw Micah smile. You’re just paranoid. Remember, he’s more scared of you than you are of him.
Molly rolled her eyes. He’s not a rattlesnake, smartass. He’s a thirteen year old kid, and they’re not scared of anything.
Thirteen year old girls aren’t, maybe. Thirteen year old boys who’ve been recently orphaned are scared of everything. Trust me, I remember.
Molly sighed. Like that’s much better. What can I say to him that won’t make him hate me? “Welcome to the Evolved Orphans’ Club, here’s your membership card?”
I can whip up some decoder rings, if you want.
Molly laughed, a little unwillingly. Maybe. But seriously, what can I say to Jacob? How can I possibly make this not be a disaster?
Molly saw Micah lean back. He sat there, fingers tapping on the wood of the old kitchen table.
Finally, the reply came. You remember what you told me after my mom died?
Molly bit her lip. She did. She’d told him that it got easier after a while, the loss didn’t feel like you’d broken off part of your heart and buried in the ground.
Yes. And you got mightily pissed at me, as I recall.
I’d just watched my mom die. I didn’t want any kind of comfort. I didn’t want to talk about how I felt, either. I was angry at the world.
I know, she typed, remembering. Molly knew that in many ways, Micah still was. He kept most people at a distance, especially since Monica died, save for her and her dads. He hid his damage well under a funny and easygoing demeanor, but the rage was there, buried deep. She’d gone on missions with him, seen him take down evil and vicious killers without that sweet smile ever leaving his face. Always in the name of saving the world.
He had told Molly once, a few years back, that she was his conscience, his saving grace. He’d been kind of drunk at the time, but Molly took his words to heart. He needed her. And she needed him just as much.
Point is, Micah wrote, he’s going to be angry for a while. He’s going to push people, goad them. Especially Matt, I bet. Don’t let him get to you. Be friendly; but don’t lay on the sympathy too thick or it’ll backfire.
Molly nodded. She felt a little better, but she was still nervous. So what do I say to him?
In the apartment, Micah smiled. “Hi, I’m Molly, pleased to meet you,” might be a good place to start.
***
April 24, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
The next morning, Molly woke up in a grim mood. She’d felt better after the talk with Micah last night, but had still lain awake for hours. Any hopeful feelings she’d been entertaining had died during those long, restless hours before dawn.
Molly got dressed in a pair of black jeans and nice dress shirt, while her dads went out to get coffee. She tried hard not to think of it as their last morning together, as the Parkman-Suresh-Walker family. Soon there’d be another last name to squeeze in, and the damn thing was overcrowded already. How were any of them going to handle this?
Molly rolled her eyes at herself. Ugh. She needed coffee, or she wasn’t going to stop whining long enough to actually leave the hotel.
Luckily, her dads came back soon; bearing not just coffee but donuts as well. They sat down at the tiny table in the room, and Molly felt her black mood start to drain away. There was some kind of emotional alchemy at work whenever she ate with her dads; life seemed easier. This effect was doubled when there was donuts involved.
“Amazing how Krispy Kremes and caffeine can make pretty much anything bearable,” Molly said, taking a huge bite.
“It’s all in the sprinkles,” Matt said around a mouthful of donut. “Rainbow sprinkles just make everything better.”
Mohinder wrinkled his nose at his daughter and partner stuffing their faces. “Especially tooth decay and obesity.”
Molly almost snorted coffee out her nose, and pretty soon, all three of them were giggling helplessly. She watched Matt give Mohinder a loud, messy kiss on the side of his face with lips covered in sugar. Mohinder blushed and batted him away, wiping the frosting off his cheek.
They can do this, she thought randomly. They had taken her in and helped make her whole again. They could do it again with Jacob.
Matt suddenly shot her a look, eyes dancing, and she knew he had overheard the stray thought. She blew him a kiss full of powdered sugar, and he gave her a wink in return.
***
Two hours later, they arrived at the address Stan Burke had given them.
“All right,” Mohinder said, parking the car. “Everyone ready to do this?”
“No,” Matt said shakily.
“Definitely not,” Molly added.
“Me neither. Let’s get it over with,” Mohinder said, opening his door. Molly followed suit, and then Matt.
The three of them wandered up to the house, and were shown in by a middle-age woman with penciled on eyebrows and way too much makeup, who introduced herself as “Delores Morrison, the lady of the house.”
Did she just really say that? Molly wondered.
I heard it too, Matt said. Just keep smiling at her and hope she goes away soon.
Molly’s face contorted with trying not to laugh. She sobered up again by thinking of poor Jacob having to live with this woman since his mom died.
Dolores showed them into the living room, and went to get Jacob. Molly heard them talking in the hall for a long moment, then silence.
Then the door to the living room swung open, and Jacob stood there, scuffing his feet.
“So,” he said. “You’re mom’s gay ex-husband.”
Well. Micah had been right to warn her. Molly supposed she should thank him.
Next Chapter: Ashes
Fandom: Heroes (Future, AU-ish)
Characters: Molly, Micah, Matt, Mohinder, Jacob (OC)
Rating: PG-13 for language
Disclaimer: If I owned Matt and Mohinder, Matt would be cleaning my room while Mohinder cooked me dinner. Unfortunately, I don't. Looks like ramen for dinner and a dirty bedroom for a little while longer. D:
Summary: What can I say to him that won’t make him hate me? “Welcome to the Evolved Orphans’ Club, here’s your membership card?”
A/N: This chapter definitely got away from me a bit. Molly started talking and just wouldn't. shut. up.
Previous Chapters: Prologue | One | Two | Three
Chapter Four: Orphans
April 21, 2021
Brooklyn, NY
Molly had started to worry the second her dads called her and invited her over for dinner. Not that it was unusual for her to eat over there. She was there most weekends, and occasionally stopped by during the week. It was the tone of voice that Matt had used - the falsely cheery one that meant there was some sort of news that was too big to break over the phone. The last time she’d heard his voice like that, Noah Bennet's body had been found in the Columbia River.
Not again, she thought. Please, God, not again. Who was it this time? Matt and Mohinder had both talked to her, and she’d know if something happened to Micah. She immediately started looking for everyone she knew.
Claire was in Tuscon, eating dinner with her mother and her daughter Grace. Her brother Lyle was camping in Big Sur. Monty and Simon were in Boston and New York, both studying for their midterms. Damon was in Baton Rouge. Hiro, Singapore. Ando and his wife Toshiko, Osaka. Peter, Barcelona. They all seemed fine, going about their daily lives as if nothing was wrong, but she must have forgotten someone. During the subway ride, she kept looking, trying desperately to remember who she might have missed.
She managed to keep herself mostly together until she actually got to the old apartment. Matt was the one to answer the door, and she wasn’t able to stop herself from flinging herself into his embrace like she was ten years old again.
“Whoa, honey. I missed you too.” Matt sounded pleasantly surprised, which she wasn’t expecting.
“Who was it? Who died this time?” she asked.
Matt’s arms impulsively tightened around her, but it was Mohinder who answered.
“It was Janice.”
Molly leaned back far enough so she could stare at her other father. “Who?”
Matt sighed, and disentangled himself from Molly’s embrace. “My ex-wife. From L.A.”
Mohinder came forward and gave her a hug. She was so relieved, she hardly noticed.
“I’m sorry we worried you,” he told her.
“No, it’s okay,” she said. She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s just that you guys sounded like-”
Like someone important had died. She managed to stop the words from coming out of her mouth, but that didn’t really matter when there was a telepath in the room. Dad had mostly learned to control what he heard or saw, but when it was just the three of them, he usually let his guard down. And she’d been projecting it really loudly.
She saw the hurt look on Matt’s face, and immediately felt like a huge jerk.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it like that.”
He slung an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the temple. “I know, honey. It’s fine, I understand.”
“I’ve just been freaking out since you guys called me,” Molly said, leaning into his embrace gratefully. “I was convinced there’d been another catastrophe or something and everyone was dead. Again.”
Molly knew her anxiety for her friends and family bordered on paranoia. But once you considered how many people that she’d cared about had been murdered or shot or tortured, occasionally right in front of her, it felt completely justified.
Matt sat her down at the kitchen table. “I told you, I understand. You only met Janice, what? Twice, in the hospital? And you were a kid.”
“And afterwards,” Mohinder added, “She wasn’t a very popular subject for conversation.”
Matt gave him a dirty look, and Mohinder returned it with his patented wry smile. The two of them moved to the other side of the table and took their seats, sharing a long look on the way.
Molly’s eyes flicked back and forth between them. Her suspicions that they were carrying on a silent conversation were confirmed when Mohinder suddenly rolled his eyes for no reason she could see.
“Ahem,” she said haughtily. “Prodigal daughter here, home for dinner. Would appreciate being included in the conversation.”
Both men looked at her, slightly embarrassed. They shared another look.
“What is it?” Molly asked, immediately starting to worry again. “What haven’t you told me?”
Matt leaned forward and took one of Molly’s hands in both of his. “Do you remember why Janice and I got divorced?”
Molly furrowed her brow. It had been so long since she’d even thought about her dad’s other life, before he manifested, living with his wife in Los Angeles. Thinking about him in California inevitably brought up memories of her childhood there, and its brutal ending at the hands of Sylar. So when she thought of Matt, it was here in New York, in the tiny apartment that had become a haven with him and Mohinder; watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, eating pizza in the living room with their feet on the coffee table when Mohinder was away, walking in Prospect Park with all the other families, the trees in vivid fall colors.
“Yeah,” she said, suddenly remembering. Matt had never told her directly, but she’d overheard her fathers talking about it one night, after she’d gone to bed. “She was pregnant, with someone else’s baby.”
Matt nodded. “Jacob,” he said. “He’s thirteen now.”
“We got a call from a lawyer last night,” Mohinder said, taking up the conversation when Matt faltered. “Janice’s will specified that she wanted Matt to be his guardian if she died.”
It took Molly about thirty seconds to realize the full extent of what that meant.
“Ohmygod,” she blurted out. “Are you serious? Because if this is some kind of really elaborate joke-”
“Not a joke,” Dad assured her.
“Except maybe a cosmic one,” Mohinder added from the other side of the table.
“Ha ha, Suresh,” Matt said. “Very funny.”
Molly managed a weak smile for her fathers, but internally, she felt kind of…
She had no idea how she felt. She had no idea how she should feel. In Molly’s mind, it had been the three of them against the entire world for a long time. To know that there would soon be some kind of unknown element in the equation was disconcerting. To say the least.
“Hey,” Matt said, squeezing her hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Molly said, coming out of her daze. “I think I’m in shock a little. This is all kind of, you know. Sudden.”
“You’re telling me,” Mohinder said.
Molly chewed on her lip, trying to get her bearings. “Do you have a picture of him? Of Jacob?” she asked. She was hoping that seeing him would bring a much-needed sense of reality to the whole situation.
Matt and Mohinder shared another look, and then Matt got up and went into the bedroom. He returned with a manila folder, crammed with papers, which he opened on the table. He extracted a picture from the mess of legal forms and handed it to Molly.
She looked at him, at Jacob; took in the wide smile, the tanned skin, the unkempt hair. But it wasn’t enough. The picture didn’t tell her what she needed to know. She wanted to see him.
“Matt,” Mohinder said. “Why don’t we get dinner started?”
And everyone assumed there was only one mind-reader in the family. Molly wasn’t entirely convinced that telepathy wasn’t a little contagious.
“Yeah,” Matt said, jumping up. “Good idea, it’s getting late. Molly, why don’t you…” He made a brief, waving gesture.
“I’m going to say goodbye to my room, I guess.” Molly assumed they weren’t going to force Jacob to sleep on the couch, after all. And it was a good excuse to be alone. “Let me know if you need any help.”
Mohinder kissed her on the top of her head. “We’ll call you if Matt sets the kitchen on fire.
Molly smiled as she stood up. Her dads were already bickering about who would chop what as she walked into her old bedroom. She shut the door softly behind her and sat down on the bed. She stared up at the constellations of plastic star that had been stuck to the ceiling for the last twelve years for a while, then glanced back at the picture in her hands.
She closed her eyes, letting her other sight drift across the continent to California, and sought out Jacob.
She found a boy alone in a room. He was curled up on a small bed in what was obviously someone’s rarely-used guest room, tastefully decorated but as lifeless as a motel.
He was staring blankly at the wall. He had earphones on, but she heard no music coming from them, and the iPod attached to them was dark. The difference between this boy and the kid in the picture was so startling that for a moment, she doubted herself.
She took a closer look. He’d lost weight of an already skinny frame, and the tan had faded. The hair that had only been unkempt in the picture was lank and dirty.
As she watched, Jacob quickly wiped a hand across his face. She looked closer and saw that he’d been crying silently, tears leaking out from his eyes. The look on his face was blank and desolate.
Molly withdrew quickly, embarrassed to have seen something so vulnerable and personal as a thirteen year old suffering in quiet grief. Memories of the months after her own parents, her first parents, had been killed came back to her in a fresh wave of grief. Guilt for not having thought about them in so long followed it. She stared up at the stars stuck to her ceiling again, swallowing back tears.
There was a knock at the door. Molly cleared her throat. “Yeah?”
The door cracked open. “Molls?” Matt asked. “You all right?”
Molly bit her lip. “He was so sad,” she said.
The door opened the rest of the way, and her dad came into the room and sat on her bed. He put a hand on her head, stroking her hair the way that he used to when she’d wake up from nightmares or a fever. “Brought back memories?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, though,” she said, even though she knew he would. “I’m resilient.”
Matt smiled at her. “I know.”
They both sat in silence for a while before Molly spoke again.
“So what are you going to do?” she asked finally. “Is he coming straight here or what?”
“We’re flying out to California in two days. We’re going to go to Janice’s funeral, and then Jacob’s coming back with us.”
“I want to come,” Molly said immediately.
Matt raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure? What about work?”
Molly had been driving an ambulance for the last eight months to pay off her student loans, in addition to occasionally working for the Company. Mohinder, having finally gotten a seat on the board of directors, had gotten her and Micah jobs.
“This counts as a family emergency. And Appa’s my boss at the Company, so I doubt that’ll be a problem. I’m coming.”
Matt smiled at her. “All right.” Then his brow furrowed, and his expression turned serious again. “There’s probably a few other things you should know…”
April 23, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
The feeling of impending doom didn’t really hit Molly until after they’d checked into a hotel on the outskirts of L.A. They’d be meeting Jacob for the first time tomorrow, a couple of hours before Janice’s funeral. Both Matt and Mohinder had passed out early in one of the double beds, leaving Molly with only her thoughts and the television to keep her company.
All of a sudden, it hit her. Everything was about to change. Again. And she wasn’t entirely sure she was up to it.
So she did what she always did when everything got to be a bit too much: looked for Micah. She found her best friend in her dads’ apartment. He’d offered to redecorate Molly’s old room while they were gone, in order to make it palatable enough for a thirteen year old boy.
She’d half expected to find him still at work; Micah had suffered from insomnia for years, and she didn’t doubt he’d be awake, even at two in the morning. Instead he was in the kitchen, sitting at the table her dads had had for years, at his laptop. Perfect. She opened her own laptop and sent off a quick email to him. All it said was: I need to talk or I’m going to go crazy.
Twenty seconds later, a messenger window popped up on her screen.
You’re still awake? Thought you’d be asleep.
I’m too wired to sleep. Can’t believe I’m going to meet him tomorrow. Son of the evil ex-partner and eviler ex-wife.
You’re still angry at Janice? Micah had, of course, heard her rant and rave about the woman who had stabbed her dad in the back and broken his heart in the space of a few months. And for what? Matt had shown her the letter, and Molly didn’t buy the woman’s bullshit for a minute.
I just can’t believe that she would do that to Matt. Lie about the paternity test, I mean, just so she’d get him to agree to a divorce. With parents like that, I’m amazed Jacob doesn’t have horns and a forked tail.
Molly saw Micah snort laughter. He’s not the Antichrist, Molly.
She tapped the keys of her laptop, but didn’t write anything for a moment. Finally, she said, He could be. That’s what Hiro said, remember? He’s got some kind of ability apparently, and I’d guess a powerful one. Add that to the fact that he’s just lost his Mom and is meeting all of us for the first time. I’m going to be surprised if we all come out of this alive.
Micah’s brows furrowed as he typed his response. You really are worried about this, aren’t you?
She started to type that she wasn’t, not really, it was just a joke. Then she realized that Micah was right.
Yes, she typed. I don’t know why. I just can’t help feeling like it’s the end of the world. AGAIN. I can’t stand it. I shouldn’t have come.
In the New York apartment, she saw Micah smile. You’re just paranoid. Remember, he’s more scared of you than you are of him.
Molly rolled her eyes. He’s not a rattlesnake, smartass. He’s a thirteen year old kid, and they’re not scared of anything.
Thirteen year old girls aren’t, maybe. Thirteen year old boys who’ve been recently orphaned are scared of everything. Trust me, I remember.
Molly sighed. Like that’s much better. What can I say to him that won’t make him hate me? “Welcome to the Evolved Orphans’ Club, here’s your membership card?”
I can whip up some decoder rings, if you want.
Molly laughed, a little unwillingly. Maybe. But seriously, what can I say to Jacob? How can I possibly make this not be a disaster?
Molly saw Micah lean back. He sat there, fingers tapping on the wood of the old kitchen table.
Finally, the reply came. You remember what you told me after my mom died?
Molly bit her lip. She did. She’d told him that it got easier after a while, the loss didn’t feel like you’d broken off part of your heart and buried in the ground.
Yes. And you got mightily pissed at me, as I recall.
I’d just watched my mom die. I didn’t want any kind of comfort. I didn’t want to talk about how I felt, either. I was angry at the world.
I know, she typed, remembering. Molly knew that in many ways, Micah still was. He kept most people at a distance, especially since Monica died, save for her and her dads. He hid his damage well under a funny and easygoing demeanor, but the rage was there, buried deep. She’d gone on missions with him, seen him take down evil and vicious killers without that sweet smile ever leaving his face. Always in the name of saving the world.
He had told Molly once, a few years back, that she was his conscience, his saving grace. He’d been kind of drunk at the time, but Molly took his words to heart. He needed her. And she needed him just as much.
Point is, Micah wrote, he’s going to be angry for a while. He’s going to push people, goad them. Especially Matt, I bet. Don’t let him get to you. Be friendly; but don’t lay on the sympathy too thick or it’ll backfire.
Molly nodded. She felt a little better, but she was still nervous. So what do I say to him?
In the apartment, Micah smiled. “Hi, I’m Molly, pleased to meet you,” might be a good place to start.
***
April 24, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
The next morning, Molly woke up in a grim mood. She’d felt better after the talk with Micah last night, but had still lain awake for hours. Any hopeful feelings she’d been entertaining had died during those long, restless hours before dawn.
Molly got dressed in a pair of black jeans and nice dress shirt, while her dads went out to get coffee. She tried hard not to think of it as their last morning together, as the Parkman-Suresh-Walker family. Soon there’d be another last name to squeeze in, and the damn thing was overcrowded already. How were any of them going to handle this?
Molly rolled her eyes at herself. Ugh. She needed coffee, or she wasn’t going to stop whining long enough to actually leave the hotel.
Luckily, her dads came back soon; bearing not just coffee but donuts as well. They sat down at the tiny table in the room, and Molly felt her black mood start to drain away. There was some kind of emotional alchemy at work whenever she ate with her dads; life seemed easier. This effect was doubled when there was donuts involved.
“Amazing how Krispy Kremes and caffeine can make pretty much anything bearable,” Molly said, taking a huge bite.
“It’s all in the sprinkles,” Matt said around a mouthful of donut. “Rainbow sprinkles just make everything better.”
Mohinder wrinkled his nose at his daughter and partner stuffing their faces. “Especially tooth decay and obesity.”
Molly almost snorted coffee out her nose, and pretty soon, all three of them were giggling helplessly. She watched Matt give Mohinder a loud, messy kiss on the side of his face with lips covered in sugar. Mohinder blushed and batted him away, wiping the frosting off his cheek.
They can do this, she thought randomly. They had taken her in and helped make her whole again. They could do it again with Jacob.
Matt suddenly shot her a look, eyes dancing, and she knew he had overheard the stray thought. She blew him a kiss full of powdered sugar, and he gave her a wink in return.
***
Two hours later, they arrived at the address Stan Burke had given them.
“All right,” Mohinder said, parking the car. “Everyone ready to do this?”
“No,” Matt said shakily.
“Definitely not,” Molly added.
“Me neither. Let’s get it over with,” Mohinder said, opening his door. Molly followed suit, and then Matt.
The three of them wandered up to the house, and were shown in by a middle-age woman with penciled on eyebrows and way too much makeup, who introduced herself as “Delores Morrison, the lady of the house.”
Did she just really say that? Molly wondered.
I heard it too, Matt said. Just keep smiling at her and hope she goes away soon.
Molly’s face contorted with trying not to laugh. She sobered up again by thinking of poor Jacob having to live with this woman since his mom died.
Dolores showed them into the living room, and went to get Jacob. Molly heard them talking in the hall for a long moment, then silence.
Then the door to the living room swung open, and Jacob stood there, scuffing his feet.
“So,” he said. “You’re mom’s gay ex-husband.”
Well. Micah had been right to warn her. Molly supposed she should thank him.
Next Chapter: Ashes