Fic: Yen, 6/12
Yen
By kalimyre
Pairing: Kensei/Hiro, Adam/Hiro
Rating: Adult
Summary: In which the fairy tale does have a happy ending, but not the one you were expecting.
Notes: As always, thank you to my fabulous betas: powered_otaku and soulpeddler.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
~~~
Part 6
They spent much of the day cleaning Hiro’s apartment, throwing out the old food and making it more livable. Hiro took him into downtown Tokyo, which was huge and crowded and busy like New York, but also different. It was cleaner, more uniform, and while New York had held a wide mix of people, Tokyo was primarily Japanese. To Adam, New York felt accidental, random, and sprawling-Tokyo felt planned.
The atmosphere affected them, and when they went for food and more clothes for Adam, there wasn’t that feeling of adventure they’d had in New York. Refraining from foolish indiscretions in public fitting rooms was probably wiser anyway, but Adam felt oddly disappointed. His life since meeting Hiro had been fantastic in every sense of the word; strange and dramatic and exciting. He wasn’t sure he was ready to settle into the ordinary.
Back at the apartment, Hiro slept for a few more hours, trying to put himself on New York time, and Adam tried to work out how to use the oven, thinking he’d have something ready when Hiro woke up.
It was trial and error, and he managed to burn a circular burner pattern into his arm, not realizing it was hot. He hadn’t been burned since discovering his gift, and of course it healed like everything else, but he decided it was the most painful type of injury he’d found yet. He left the oven alone and made sandwiches instead. He put them away for later, figuring he was lucky he hadn’t started a fire.
Crawling into bed beside Hiro, he nuzzled the back of his neck and watched him sleep, chest rising and falling steadily, expression relaxed and peaceful, and felt something like envy. That was one thing drinking had been good for-it let him sleep. He’d never slept well (which made sense, now) and while his body might not need the restorative, he thought his mind probably did.
So he burrowed in close to Hiro, and tried to absorb some of his calm quiet, tried to pull it over him like a heavy blanket. He matched his breathing to Hiro’s deliberately, and laid a hand flat over his chest, feeling his heartbeat, trying to match that as well. He closed his eyes, and eventually something came that wasn’t quite sleep, but it made him feel clearheaded and refreshed.
When Hiro woke and rolled into him, kissing him sleepily, Adam smiled and ran his hands over Hiro’s skin, bed-warm and smooth, pliant.
“Mmm,” Hiro said, his mouth curving into a smile against Adam’s neck. “Good morning. Or night, I forget.”
Adam chuckled and tugged Hiro up out of bed, leading him toward the bathroom. “Come on,” he said. “I want to try that shower of yours again.”
Hiro grinned, and allowed Adam to slide his pajama pants off, lacing his hands together behind Adam’s neck and kissing him, slow and sweet. He laughed suddenly into the kiss and Adam pulled back, giving him a questioning look.
“I just thought,” Hiro said, smiling. “We could wake up like this every day.”
And Adam could see it for a moment-days stretching out ahead, days of Hiro’s laugh and his touch, nights of lying beside him and finding that slow, sleepy peace, mornings spent watching him wake up, watching him smile as he saw Adam there beside him.
But no. Hiro still hadn’t learned not to believe in fairytales, but Adam knew better.
“Adam?” Hiro asked, touching his face.
“Don’t plan the future before it happens,” Adam said gently. “You of all people know that it can change.”
Hiro gave him a concerned look, but let Adam guide him into the shower and stood with him in the water, arms tight around his waist, his steady presence somehow making more of a point than words could.
So the shower Adam had intended to be a pleasant diversion turned into something else, Hiro washing him methodically, humming to himself, happy to do this simple thing for him. It kept catching Adam in new and unexpected ways, Hiro’s generosity, his seemingly effortless ability to give without expecting anything in return.
When it was done, Adam was left with the same calm feeling that lying beside Hiro while he slept had given him. They dressed and Hiro ate the sandwich Adam had made him, talking about what they would see after Suresh and the company were done with them for the day. “You should see Vegas,” he said, absently pushing his glasses up on his nose. “Even more lights than New York.”
“Vegas,” Adam echoed. “Isn’t that where we...”
Hiro smiled. “A long time ago, yes. It’s much different now.”
“Pity,” Adam said. “I liked it just fine the way it was.”
He kept Hiro talking as long as he could, but eventually it was time to return, and they stood together in Hiro’s living room, Hiro’s hands on his shoulders. “Ready?” Hiro asked, and they were gone before Adam could answer.
The cold air, smell of disinfectant, and white fluorescent glare washed over him and he wrapped one hand tight around Hiro’s wrist. “What are you doing?” he said. “Why did you bring us back here?”
They were at one end of a long, empty hallway, tucked close against the wall. Hiro led them toward the door Adam remembered from the day before, and said, “We need to tell him what happened.”
“Why?” Adam asked, stopping them in front of the door. “Bob seemed pretty sure he would know.”
“Bob cares about what is best for himself,” Hiro replied.
“No argument there,” Adam said, “but are you sure this is a good idea? From what I’ve gathered so far, this man and his family are pretty well involved with Bob and his company.”
Hiro looked down, his eyebrows drawing together thoughtfully. “I thought he was a villain once, because he was going to let the bomb happen. But he didn’t-he took Peter away. He saved New York, and you saw how terribly he was hurt because of it. He is on the right side.”
Adam sighed and followed Hiro into the room. Nathan was dressed, standing by the window, staring out. He turned at their approach, looking confused.
“Flying man!” Hiro said, grinning. “You’re all right!”
“Hiro?” Nathan looked baffled, but smiled; Adam had noticed Hiro tended to have that effect on people.
“Yes,” Hiro said, and he waved Adam forward. “This is my friend, Adam. He healed you.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows, looking uncertainly at Adam. “Well,” he said. “Thank you. How did you manage that?”
“That’s a long story,” Adam said before Hiro could launch into it. “We just wanted to come by, make sure you were all right.”
“I’m better than I was,” Nathan said. “Good to see you again, Hiro. I saw you disappear that night, in Kirby Plaza; I wasn’t sure what happened to you.”
Hiro smiled. “I went on a great adventure. I will tell you someday. But for now...” He paused, sobering. “I wanted to say I am sorry. I thought I had saved New York, but it was you.”
Nathan offered a humorless smile. “I almost didn’t,” he said. “Came to my senses at the last minute.”
“You made the right choice,” Hiro replied. “And... Peter?”
Nathan turned and looked out the window again. Adam watched the rise and fall of his shoulders as he took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” Nathan said. “I’m not sure even Peter could have survived that.”
Adam stiffened, suddenly understanding the implication. If they thought there was even a chance this Peter could have survived the center of an explosion, then he must be like Adam, able to heal. And if he had survived, if Adam wasn’t the only one anymore... well. That would change things considerably.
“I’m sorry,” Hiro said softly.
“Yeah,” Nathan replied. “So am I.” He was quiet a moment, then turned, shaking it off. “So you’re back in New York? Hopefully not here to stop another bomb?”
Hiro shook his head. “No, we are working on a cure for a virus. The man who brought us here to help you, he’s part of it.”
“What man?” Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes.
“He said his name was Bob,” Hiro said. “He knows your mother.”
Nathan smiled ruefully. “My mother knows a lot of people.” He thought for a moment, then clapped Hiro on the shoulder. “Thank you for coming here, and telling me,” he said. “Now I know what to do next.”
“And what’s that?” Adam asked.
“There isn’t time to explain everything,” Nathan replied, “but I think if anyone knows what happened to my brother, it will be the people who brought you here to heal me. For now, though, you should get out of here before my mother arrives.”
Adam nodded, willing to take any reason to get out of the hospital; just being there made his skin crawl. Hiro put a hand on his shoulder, and Adam closed his eyes, feeling the world change around him. When he opened them they were back in Suresh’s lab, the doctor walking across the room in front of them, focused on a clipboard of papers in his hands. Adam caught him before he could walk right into them and he jumped, staring at them, startled.
“Oh,” he said, giving a little embarrassed laugh. “I suppose you don’t bother with knocking much.”
“Sorry,” Hiro said, “I didn’t want to teleport outside, someone might see.”
“I understand,” Suresh replied. “And I’m glad you’re here, you’re just in time.” He turned to Adam, waving him forward. “Remember yesterday, I told you that you’d already saved one life? She’s a woman I’ve been working with, someone with special abilities, and she has the mutated version of the virus. Until we had your blood, there was no cure.”
“But now there is,” Adam said, nodding. “So she’s all right now?”
“Not yet,” Suresh said, “I haven’t given it to her. But she’s on her way here, and soon we’ll see if it works.”
“Your nose is better,” Hiro noticed, and Suresh grinned, rubbing the bridge of it a little self-consciously.
“Yes, thanks to Adam’s blood. I feel fine, too, no side effects.” He tilted his head to the side, looking curiously at Hiro. “In fact, I’ve done about all I can do with Adam for now, barring further test subjects. Maybe we could explore your ability while we wait for Nikki to get here.”
Hiro bounced on his heels a little, nodding. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”
“Well, I’ve already seen that you can bring people with you when you travel, as you do with Adam,” Suresh said, waving at him. “Do you have to be touching someone or something to bring it with you?”
“Yes,” Hiro said, then paused. “I think so-I haven’t tried to do it without touching.”
“We’ll try that out later,” Suresh said, scribbling a reminder in a notebook on one of his lab benches. “What about time affects? What level of control do you have there?”
“I’m still learning,” Hiro said. “So far, I can stop time, or travel backward and forward in it. Once I also made it go very slowly.”
Suresh nodded, making more notes. “But you say you haven’t fully determined the scope of your abilities?”
“It doesn’t always work,” Hiro said, and Adam raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
Suresh looked interested too, tapping the pen against his lips, thoughtful. “Any particular situations where it doesn’t work?”
Hiro spread his hands, waving one uncertainly. “I have to be able to focus, to concentrate. If I’m upset or distracted, I can’t control it so well.”
“I see,” Suresh said. “But you’ve gotten better with practice?”
“Oh yes,” Hiro replied. “It still happens by accident sometimes, though.”
“By accident?” Suresh echoed.
Hiro shuffled his feet and shot Adam a small, secretive smile. “When I’m... sometimes I stop time without meaning to. If a lot is happening at once and I get overwhelmed.”
“Like a safety net,” Suresh said, nodding. “That could be a survival mechanism, to protect you from any immediate threat, like the inborn fight or flight reflex. Yours is just adapted to your ability.”
“Maybe,” Hiro said, shrugging.
“All right, and when you stop time, can you take anyone with you then? And can you interact with objects and people around you?”
“Yes,” Hiro said, “I’ll show you.” He put a hand around Suresh’s arm, and Adam watched them disappear, startled and a little troubled to see Hiro do that with someone else.
He looked around, but the room was empty, and he took the opportunity to sift through Suresh’s notes. He found several with his name on them but the rest of it was unintelligible, all diagrams and words he didn’t understand and exclamation points. Adam wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find, really; it wasn’t as if Suresh was going to draw a picture from his dream.
He heard the soft whoosh of displaced air that meant Hiro had arrived, and turned, finding them behind him. Suresh looked around, wide eyed, and pulled his arm out of Hiro’s grasp. “Amazing way to travel,” he said, “but I think I’ll stick with taking cabs.”
“Where did you go?” Adam asked.
“Just to Times Square,” Hiro replied, “not far. I stopped time and we walked around all the people and cars, and moved a couple things.”
“It was remarkable,” Suresh said. “There seems to be a small envelope of influence, where we could move things actually suspended in midair, and then as soon as they were released, they freeze in place again. You really do have a fascinating ability,” he added to Hiro.
Hiro beamed at both of them, rocking back on his heels. “Thank you,” he said. “I have to be careful, though. I could change the future too much, or cause a paradox.”
“You know,” Suresh began, “you two are really quite suited to each other. You both must have a unique perspective on time, and history.”
Adam shared a glance with Hiro, thinking about that. He, who had lived through history, who could have lived through far more, who would most likely live to see a distant future, and Hiro, who could visit any time he wished, who could control it and change it and move within it. Unique hardly seemed a strong enough word.
Suresh started to say more, but that was when the door opened and they all turned. Nikki turned out to be tall, blond, very pretty, but with weary eyes. She stopped when she saw them, casting a wary glance at Adam, then looking at Hiro with recognition. “I know you,” she said, moving toward them. “You were there that night.”
Hiro nodded. “Yes, I remember you were there too. With a man and a little boy.”
A shadow passed over her face, and she took a deep breath. “My son,” she said. “And my husband.”
Adam wasn’t sure if she’d lost both, or just one, but clearly she had lost someone. There was an awkward pause, Hiro watching her with dark, sad eyes, and then Suresh cleared his throat. “Nikki, apparently you’ve met Hiro, and this is Adam. It is his blood that’s vital to the cure for the virus.”
She softened visibly, offering Adam a small smile. “Then I have you to thank,” she said.
Adam shook his head. “Not really; most of what makes it is beyond me. It’s the doctor who put it together.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Suresh said, waving Nikki closer. “First we need to make sure it works. It was successful in lab tests, but the real trial is a live test.”
“Then let’s try it,” Nikki said, rolling up her sleeve.
“You understand this is experimental,” Suresh cautioned her, preparing the syringe. “I’ve tried Adam’s blood itself, and that worked, but his blood combined with my antibodies hasn’t been tested beyond the theoretical.”
She looked carefully at him, her eyes widening. “You tried the blood on yourself? That’s how your nose healed so fast.”
Suresh nodded, and Nikki smiled. “Good,” she said. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“She’s the one who broke it,” Suresh explained in response to Adam and Hiro’s confused looks. “It was an accident.”
“Sort of,” Nikki said quietly.
Adam looked at her again; she seemed normal, but then nobody he’d met since coming to the future had been what they seemed.
They watched as Suresh injected the solution into Nikki’s arm; it seemed like such a simple, small thing. Adam had seen fatal injuries before, and he’d seen men saved by medicine, but such medicine was sutures and bandages, not mysterious fluids and little glass tubes. The small puncture from the injection closed almost immediately, but beyond that there were no visible affects.
“We’ll have to give it a little time,” Suresh said. “Then we’ll run a blood test and check your viral load.”
She nodded, crossing her arms tightly around herself. “Even if it doesn’t work, I want to thank you for trying.”
“Nikki...” Suresh sighed, and patted her shoulder. “There’s no reason for it to not work, and if we hit a bump with this, I’m not just going to stop. This virus... well, I have reasons for wanting to beat it.”
“Why was it made in the first place?” Nikki asked.
Suresh shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know everything about it. The original strain, the Shanti virus, was naturally occurring, although it was very rare. We’ve seen more and more cases of it recently, in those with special abilities, but the core reason for the spread is still unknown.”
“It could be deliberate,” Adam pointed out. “You say it only affects those like us. Some people who felt threatened by those with power could use this virus as a way to take us out from a distance.”
“I have considered that,” Suresh said grimly. He opened his mouth to say more, then caught himself, looking around. “But right now we need to focus on the cure. Let’s take that blood test.”
Nikki held her arm out, but before Suresh could draw the blood, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, and then offered Nikki an apologetic look. “Sorry, just a minute.” He turned away and put the phone to his ear, and after a moment, Adam saw him stiffen.
“What do you want?” he asked, and then, “Don’t touch her.”
Adam exchanged a look with Hiro, then with Nikki, all of them hearing the fear in Suresh’s voice.
“No!” Suresh said, then, “Leave her out of this.” Another pause, and then he said through gritted teeth, “Fine. Whatever you want.” He gave their address, then hung up, staring at them all. “Get out of here, quickly.”
“What’s going on?” Nikki asked.
At the same time, Adam asked, “Who was that?”
Suresh braced his hands against the lab bench, then reached into a drawer under it and pulled out a gun. He stared at it in his hands for a long moment. “That was Sylar,” he said, and Adam felt Hiro clutch his arm, drawing in a harsh breath.
“No,” Hiro said. “No, he’s dead.”
“He’s alive,” Suresh replied flatly. “He’s got Molly, and he’s coming.”
~~~
It fell apart quickly from there. Hiro paced, muttering about timelines, about string and destiny and what might happen if he went back to kill Sylar again. Suresh tried to convince Nikki to run, she argued that he should call for help, he argued that Sylar had Molly and he wasn’t doing anything to put her in danger.
Adam, who only knew a little about Sylar from what Hiro had told him, felt edgy and lost and left out. Making a quick exit to Japan with Hiro seemed appealing, but he knew perfectly well Hiro wouldn’t allow it, and he realized with something like pride that he didn’t want to run, either.
“Why is he coming here?” Adam asked nobody in particular.
Suresh shook his head. “He didn’t say. He just wants me to help him.”
“With what?” Hiro asked, frowning.
“I don’t know.” Suresh ran a hand through his hair. He kept looking at the gun in his hand, putting it down, then picking it up again. “If I can just get Molly away from him...”
“How could he have survived?” Hiro said again. “I don’t understand how he’s still alive. Where has he been all this time?”
“What happened that night?” Suresh asked them. “After you stabbed him, what happened?”
“He fell down, he was bleeding everywhere,” Hiro said, his eyes distant. “He threw me in the air, I teleported so I wouldn’t hit the building. That’s all I know.”
“So he did survive long enough after you stabbed him to throw you,” Suresh pointed out.
“How did he throw anyone when he’d just been run through with a sword?” Adam asked. They all turned and looked at him for a moment as if he’d just asked something foolish, and he lifted his hands, frustrated. “I’ve never met the man, remember? What is it exactly that he does?”
Suresh closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in one hand. “He steals powers, abilities, from those like you. His most common tool is his telekinesis but he has other powers, too. I’m not sure how many he’s taken.”
Adam frowned, narrowing his eyes. “Steals... how?”
“He kills,” Hiro said softly. “I saw what he did, what he left behind. He takes their heads apart.”
“The source of power, if it has a source, is in the brain,” Suresh added. “That’s what he takes. What he cuts out.”
Adam swallowed, glad he hadn’t eaten. “Oh,” he said. “And we’re going to stay here and wait for his arrival, is that the plan?”
“No,” Suresh shot back, “I keep telling you to go! You should all leave; you all have powers that he would want. You’re targets and if he takes you, he’ll be even more powerful.”
“We’re not leaving,” Hiro said flatly. “He’s not expecting us to be here-maybe we can surprise him.”
“You could stop time,” Adam said. “That would make it easy.”
Hiro shook his head. “I tried that before. It doesn’t work on him; last time, he broke my sword.” Glancing at Adam, he added, “Our sword.”
“If we worked together, we could take him,” Nikki said. “We’re not going to get a lot of opportunities like this.”
“Put me out in front then,” Adam said, stepping forward. “He can’t hurt me, anyway.”
“He can,” Hiro argued. “He could kill you, and then he’d be invulnerable.”
And Adam thought, finally, because until now it had always been empty threats, playacting, never anything real. Maybe now he could be the man Hiro saw.
“I still say we should get help,” Nikki said again. “I’ve only seen a little of what the company can do, and the people working for them-”
“More people with powers,” Suresh cut in. “More targets for Sylar.”
She shook her head, waving one hand. “But he can’t beat us all at once!”
“Don’t be so sure,” Suresh replied. “I saw him go against Peter, who of all of you is probably the most powerful, and Peter lost. Got himself killed, actually.”
Hiro frowned. “I thought Peter was the exploding man?”
“He got better,” Suresh said. “That’s beside the point. Sylar is dangerous. What we need is some way to disable him, to remove his powers.”
“The virus,” Adam said. “Didn’t you say that’s what it does?”
Suresh lit up for a moment, turning toward his lab benches, but then he paused, shaking his head. “I don’t have the pure form of it here; it’s just too dangerous to leave lying around. It’s locked up back at the company.” He thought for a moment, then said, “But it would work, if we could get it into him. If we could trap him somehow, until I can get my hands on the virus.”
“No cage could hold him,” Hiro said. “He has the radioactive powers, he could burn through anything.”
There was quiet for a moment, and Adam watched them all in their little pockets of space, thinking so hard he could nearly hear it. “Well,” he said eventually. “I suppose we’ll just have to kill him.”
Suresh gave him a weary look. “I assure you, it’s easier said then done.”
That was when the door rattled, a child’s sharp cry of pain preceding him into the room.
“Molly!” Suresh said, taking half a step forward, then freezing. Sylar entered with her in front of him, one hand holding her in place, fingers digging into her small shoulder, a gun in the other hand, trained first on her, then on Suresh.
“Put it down,” Sylar said, gesturing toward the gun Suresh held. “You don’t want to scare her, do you?”
“Mohinder!” the child said, reaching toward him. Suresh put the gun down reluctantly, then held his hands up, palms out.
“Please,” he said. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I know you will,” Sylar replied. He glanced over at the rest of them, standing in a clump, and smiled. “And you brought me gifts. Very thoughtful.”
Adam edged closer to Hiro, murmuring to him. “He’s using a gun.”
“I saw it,” Hiro replied, confused.
“But why is he using a gun?” Adam asked. “He shouldn’t need one, right?”
“That’s right,” Nikki whispered, something sharp and predatory coming into her eyes. “What if he’s powerless?”
“What if he’s not?” Hiro shot back. “And even without his powers, he could kill her. We can’t take the chance.”
Sylar advanced far enough to snatch Suresh’s gun, tucked it into the back of his pants, then held his own to Molly’s head. She started to cry, and Suresh said, “Don’t! Just tell me what you want!”
“Any other guns?” Sylar asked. “And how about your friends over there, any surprises?”
“No,” Suresh said quickly. “I promise you, no.”
“You’d better not be lying to me,” Sylar replied. “I’d hate to ruin her pretty little face.”
Suresh closed his eyes for a moment. “I will help you,” he said. “I swear. Just. Please.”
Sylar nodded and pushed Molly toward them, and she ran straight for Nikki, who caught her and held her. Sylar kept his gun trained on her, and on the rest of them; Adam edged to the side to put himself between Hiro and the gun.
“I’m an excellent shot,” Sylar said. “Don’t get any ideas.” Then he spoke to Suresh over his shoulder, still keeping his eyes and aim on them. “Now. Find out what’s wrong with me, and fix it.”
Suresh frowned in confusion, but hurried to comply when Sylar waved the gun meaningfully. He drew some blood, starting up his machines.
“Are you okay, honey?” Nikki asked, letting Molly go.
She shook her head. “It’s him, he killed my parents and now he came back for me.”
“Do you know what he wants?” Hiro asked, crouching down to meet her eyes.
“No,” she said. “He just came to our door. He had a woman with him, a Spanish lady, but I screamed when I saw him and I tried to run and he caught me. I bit him and he hit me,” she added, rubbing a faint red mark on her cheek. “That’s when she started asking him what he was doing, and he just shot her, so fast!”
“I know this is scary,” Nikki said, smoothing Molly’s hair back from her face. “But I need you to think really hard. Did he do anything unusual? Like move something without touching it?”
Molly frowned, scrubbing at her eyes with small fists. “No. I remember him from before, he made things fly around the room. But he didn’t do it this time.”
Adam shared a glance with the other two, then looked across the room at Suresh and Sylar again. They were speaking quietly, Suresh pointing at something on a computer screen, Sylar refusing to turn and look at it, keeping his eyes on them, the gun up.
“Give it to me,” Sylar said, and Adam saw Suresh draw out a syringe of red fluid, but hesitate, meeting his eyes across the room.
“Now,” Sylar said, louder. He turned just a little, glaring at Suresh, and then things happened very fast.
“He doesn’t have his powers!” Suresh shouting, dropping the syringe on the table and trying to snatch the gun.
Sylar elbowing him in the gut, bringing the gun up.
Molly crying out, starting to run toward Suresh.
Hiro shouting, “Look out!” and pushing Molly down.
The report of the gun, loud, echoing, overlapping the scrape of wood as Nikki picks up a wooden table and hurls it across the room at Sylar.
Hiro’s choked cry as the bullet passes over Molly’s head and hits him in the chest, knocking him spinning backward to the floor.
Adam running, too late to stop it, to catch him, to do anything.
Sylar ducking the table, scooping up the syringe, bolting for the door, his pounding footsteps fading in Adam’s ears as he drops to his knees beside Hiro.
Suresh catching Molly in his arms, kissing her hair, checking her frantically for injuries.
Hiro lying on the floor, gasping, one hand reaching up for Adam’s.
It caught up with him then, the long stretch of seconds all at once, into this moment, Hiro dying in front of him and Molly crying and Nikki staring at her hands, incongruously happy, and Adam in the midst of it all, the only one who couldn’t be hurt, utterly untouched. The only blood on him was Hiro’s.
He pressed his hands over the wound in Hiro’s chest, feeling the hot rush of blood against them, Hiro shuddering, blood rimming his lips, bright red against the sick washed out gray of his skin. “No, no, Hiro, no,” he muttered, pushing harder. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you let me?”
“Oh God,” Nikki said, dropping down beside them. “I’m sorry.”
Adam ignored her. “Don’t,” he said to Hiro. “Don’t, no, come on, Hiro, you can’t. You can’t do this. Please.”
Hiro looked up at him, smiled, his eyes unfocused. “Kensei,” he said, and then the chest under Adam’s hands stilled and Hiro’s head tilted to the side, his face slack and empty.
Adam froze for a moment, then pushed on his chest again, shaking him, making him flop back and forth on the floor. “You can’t,” he said, “you can’t, you have to, come on, don’t do this! Come back, you have to, you have to come back.”
“Adam, quickly,” Suresh said at his side, Molly hiding her face against his shirt. “Your blood. It might not be too late.”
It took Adam a beat just to look at him, to register that there was anyone in the room but Hiro, and then it clicked and he ran for the lab, for the needles. Suresh followed, catching Adam before he could slice himself open just to get at his blood. “It has to be injected,” he said, and Adam made himself hold still long enough to get the blood drawn, Suresh using the biggest syringe he had.
Then they were kneeling over Hiro again and Suresh jammed the needle into his chest, between his ribs, directly over his heart. He pushed all the blood in and sat back, empty syringe forgotten on the floor beside him.
Adam touched Hiro’s face, pushed his glasses up for him, wiped the blood from his mouth. “Come on, carp,” he said softly. “Come back.”
For several very long seconds there was nothing, and then Nikki said, “Look!” and pointed at the gunshot wound on Hiro’s chest. The skin was closing in around it, the hole growing smaller, then disappearing, leaving no scar. Color bloomed in Hiro’s skin again and he gasped, his eyes opening.
“What?” he said, hands going automatically to his chest. “Did I...?”
“Don’t ever do that again,” Adam growled, and then pulled him up and pressed his face against Hiro’s neck and held him tight enough to feel every breath.
Hiro put a hand on his back and stroked him soothingly for a moment, but pulled away far before Adam was ready to let him go. “What about Sylar?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“He had the virus,” Suresh said. “The mutated strain, the same one you had,” he added to Nikki.
“So he was powerless,” she said, nodding.
“I could have stopped time and killed him,” Hiro said grimly. “I failed.”
“He was powerless, but now he’s got the cure,” Suresh said. “And obviously it works.”
Nikki nodded, her gaze going to the remains of the table, splintered against the opposite wall. “He’s back.”
~~~
Woo, action! *g* Thanks everyone, hope you like it.
Chapter Seven
By kalimyre
Pairing: Kensei/Hiro, Adam/Hiro
Rating: Adult
Summary: In which the fairy tale does have a happy ending, but not the one you were expecting.
Notes: As always, thank you to my fabulous betas: powered_otaku and soulpeddler.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
~~~
Part 6
They spent much of the day cleaning Hiro’s apartment, throwing out the old food and making it more livable. Hiro took him into downtown Tokyo, which was huge and crowded and busy like New York, but also different. It was cleaner, more uniform, and while New York had held a wide mix of people, Tokyo was primarily Japanese. To Adam, New York felt accidental, random, and sprawling-Tokyo felt planned.
The atmosphere affected them, and when they went for food and more clothes for Adam, there wasn’t that feeling of adventure they’d had in New York. Refraining from foolish indiscretions in public fitting rooms was probably wiser anyway, but Adam felt oddly disappointed. His life since meeting Hiro had been fantastic in every sense of the word; strange and dramatic and exciting. He wasn’t sure he was ready to settle into the ordinary.
Back at the apartment, Hiro slept for a few more hours, trying to put himself on New York time, and Adam tried to work out how to use the oven, thinking he’d have something ready when Hiro woke up.
It was trial and error, and he managed to burn a circular burner pattern into his arm, not realizing it was hot. He hadn’t been burned since discovering his gift, and of course it healed like everything else, but he decided it was the most painful type of injury he’d found yet. He left the oven alone and made sandwiches instead. He put them away for later, figuring he was lucky he hadn’t started a fire.
Crawling into bed beside Hiro, he nuzzled the back of his neck and watched him sleep, chest rising and falling steadily, expression relaxed and peaceful, and felt something like envy. That was one thing drinking had been good for-it let him sleep. He’d never slept well (which made sense, now) and while his body might not need the restorative, he thought his mind probably did.
So he burrowed in close to Hiro, and tried to absorb some of his calm quiet, tried to pull it over him like a heavy blanket. He matched his breathing to Hiro’s deliberately, and laid a hand flat over his chest, feeling his heartbeat, trying to match that as well. He closed his eyes, and eventually something came that wasn’t quite sleep, but it made him feel clearheaded and refreshed.
When Hiro woke and rolled into him, kissing him sleepily, Adam smiled and ran his hands over Hiro’s skin, bed-warm and smooth, pliant.
“Mmm,” Hiro said, his mouth curving into a smile against Adam’s neck. “Good morning. Or night, I forget.”
Adam chuckled and tugged Hiro up out of bed, leading him toward the bathroom. “Come on,” he said. “I want to try that shower of yours again.”
Hiro grinned, and allowed Adam to slide his pajama pants off, lacing his hands together behind Adam’s neck and kissing him, slow and sweet. He laughed suddenly into the kiss and Adam pulled back, giving him a questioning look.
“I just thought,” Hiro said, smiling. “We could wake up like this every day.”
And Adam could see it for a moment-days stretching out ahead, days of Hiro’s laugh and his touch, nights of lying beside him and finding that slow, sleepy peace, mornings spent watching him wake up, watching him smile as he saw Adam there beside him.
But no. Hiro still hadn’t learned not to believe in fairytales, but Adam knew better.
“Adam?” Hiro asked, touching his face.
“Don’t plan the future before it happens,” Adam said gently. “You of all people know that it can change.”
Hiro gave him a concerned look, but let Adam guide him into the shower and stood with him in the water, arms tight around his waist, his steady presence somehow making more of a point than words could.
So the shower Adam had intended to be a pleasant diversion turned into something else, Hiro washing him methodically, humming to himself, happy to do this simple thing for him. It kept catching Adam in new and unexpected ways, Hiro’s generosity, his seemingly effortless ability to give without expecting anything in return.
When it was done, Adam was left with the same calm feeling that lying beside Hiro while he slept had given him. They dressed and Hiro ate the sandwich Adam had made him, talking about what they would see after Suresh and the company were done with them for the day. “You should see Vegas,” he said, absently pushing his glasses up on his nose. “Even more lights than New York.”
“Vegas,” Adam echoed. “Isn’t that where we...”
Hiro smiled. “A long time ago, yes. It’s much different now.”
“Pity,” Adam said. “I liked it just fine the way it was.”
He kept Hiro talking as long as he could, but eventually it was time to return, and they stood together in Hiro’s living room, Hiro’s hands on his shoulders. “Ready?” Hiro asked, and they were gone before Adam could answer.
The cold air, smell of disinfectant, and white fluorescent glare washed over him and he wrapped one hand tight around Hiro’s wrist. “What are you doing?” he said. “Why did you bring us back here?”
They were at one end of a long, empty hallway, tucked close against the wall. Hiro led them toward the door Adam remembered from the day before, and said, “We need to tell him what happened.”
“Why?” Adam asked, stopping them in front of the door. “Bob seemed pretty sure he would know.”
“Bob cares about what is best for himself,” Hiro replied.
“No argument there,” Adam said, “but are you sure this is a good idea? From what I’ve gathered so far, this man and his family are pretty well involved with Bob and his company.”
Hiro looked down, his eyebrows drawing together thoughtfully. “I thought he was a villain once, because he was going to let the bomb happen. But he didn’t-he took Peter away. He saved New York, and you saw how terribly he was hurt because of it. He is on the right side.”
Adam sighed and followed Hiro into the room. Nathan was dressed, standing by the window, staring out. He turned at their approach, looking confused.
“Flying man!” Hiro said, grinning. “You’re all right!”
“Hiro?” Nathan looked baffled, but smiled; Adam had noticed Hiro tended to have that effect on people.
“Yes,” Hiro said, and he waved Adam forward. “This is my friend, Adam. He healed you.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows, looking uncertainly at Adam. “Well,” he said. “Thank you. How did you manage that?”
“That’s a long story,” Adam said before Hiro could launch into it. “We just wanted to come by, make sure you were all right.”
“I’m better than I was,” Nathan said. “Good to see you again, Hiro. I saw you disappear that night, in Kirby Plaza; I wasn’t sure what happened to you.”
Hiro smiled. “I went on a great adventure. I will tell you someday. But for now...” He paused, sobering. “I wanted to say I am sorry. I thought I had saved New York, but it was you.”
Nathan offered a humorless smile. “I almost didn’t,” he said. “Came to my senses at the last minute.”
“You made the right choice,” Hiro replied. “And... Peter?”
Nathan turned and looked out the window again. Adam watched the rise and fall of his shoulders as he took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” Nathan said. “I’m not sure even Peter could have survived that.”
Adam stiffened, suddenly understanding the implication. If they thought there was even a chance this Peter could have survived the center of an explosion, then he must be like Adam, able to heal. And if he had survived, if Adam wasn’t the only one anymore... well. That would change things considerably.
“I’m sorry,” Hiro said softly.
“Yeah,” Nathan replied. “So am I.” He was quiet a moment, then turned, shaking it off. “So you’re back in New York? Hopefully not here to stop another bomb?”
Hiro shook his head. “No, we are working on a cure for a virus. The man who brought us here to help you, he’s part of it.”
“What man?” Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes.
“He said his name was Bob,” Hiro said. “He knows your mother.”
Nathan smiled ruefully. “My mother knows a lot of people.” He thought for a moment, then clapped Hiro on the shoulder. “Thank you for coming here, and telling me,” he said. “Now I know what to do next.”
“And what’s that?” Adam asked.
“There isn’t time to explain everything,” Nathan replied, “but I think if anyone knows what happened to my brother, it will be the people who brought you here to heal me. For now, though, you should get out of here before my mother arrives.”
Adam nodded, willing to take any reason to get out of the hospital; just being there made his skin crawl. Hiro put a hand on his shoulder, and Adam closed his eyes, feeling the world change around him. When he opened them they were back in Suresh’s lab, the doctor walking across the room in front of them, focused on a clipboard of papers in his hands. Adam caught him before he could walk right into them and he jumped, staring at them, startled.
“Oh,” he said, giving a little embarrassed laugh. “I suppose you don’t bother with knocking much.”
“Sorry,” Hiro said, “I didn’t want to teleport outside, someone might see.”
“I understand,” Suresh replied. “And I’m glad you’re here, you’re just in time.” He turned to Adam, waving him forward. “Remember yesterday, I told you that you’d already saved one life? She’s a woman I’ve been working with, someone with special abilities, and she has the mutated version of the virus. Until we had your blood, there was no cure.”
“But now there is,” Adam said, nodding. “So she’s all right now?”
“Not yet,” Suresh said, “I haven’t given it to her. But she’s on her way here, and soon we’ll see if it works.”
“Your nose is better,” Hiro noticed, and Suresh grinned, rubbing the bridge of it a little self-consciously.
“Yes, thanks to Adam’s blood. I feel fine, too, no side effects.” He tilted his head to the side, looking curiously at Hiro. “In fact, I’ve done about all I can do with Adam for now, barring further test subjects. Maybe we could explore your ability while we wait for Nikki to get here.”
Hiro bounced on his heels a little, nodding. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”
“Well, I’ve already seen that you can bring people with you when you travel, as you do with Adam,” Suresh said, waving at him. “Do you have to be touching someone or something to bring it with you?”
“Yes,” Hiro said, then paused. “I think so-I haven’t tried to do it without touching.”
“We’ll try that out later,” Suresh said, scribbling a reminder in a notebook on one of his lab benches. “What about time affects? What level of control do you have there?”
“I’m still learning,” Hiro said. “So far, I can stop time, or travel backward and forward in it. Once I also made it go very slowly.”
Suresh nodded, making more notes. “But you say you haven’t fully determined the scope of your abilities?”
“It doesn’t always work,” Hiro said, and Adam raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
Suresh looked interested too, tapping the pen against his lips, thoughtful. “Any particular situations where it doesn’t work?”
Hiro spread his hands, waving one uncertainly. “I have to be able to focus, to concentrate. If I’m upset or distracted, I can’t control it so well.”
“I see,” Suresh said. “But you’ve gotten better with practice?”
“Oh yes,” Hiro replied. “It still happens by accident sometimes, though.”
“By accident?” Suresh echoed.
Hiro shuffled his feet and shot Adam a small, secretive smile. “When I’m... sometimes I stop time without meaning to. If a lot is happening at once and I get overwhelmed.”
“Like a safety net,” Suresh said, nodding. “That could be a survival mechanism, to protect you from any immediate threat, like the inborn fight or flight reflex. Yours is just adapted to your ability.”
“Maybe,” Hiro said, shrugging.
“All right, and when you stop time, can you take anyone with you then? And can you interact with objects and people around you?”
“Yes,” Hiro said, “I’ll show you.” He put a hand around Suresh’s arm, and Adam watched them disappear, startled and a little troubled to see Hiro do that with someone else.
He looked around, but the room was empty, and he took the opportunity to sift through Suresh’s notes. He found several with his name on them but the rest of it was unintelligible, all diagrams and words he didn’t understand and exclamation points. Adam wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find, really; it wasn’t as if Suresh was going to draw a picture from his dream.
He heard the soft whoosh of displaced air that meant Hiro had arrived, and turned, finding them behind him. Suresh looked around, wide eyed, and pulled his arm out of Hiro’s grasp. “Amazing way to travel,” he said, “but I think I’ll stick with taking cabs.”
“Where did you go?” Adam asked.
“Just to Times Square,” Hiro replied, “not far. I stopped time and we walked around all the people and cars, and moved a couple things.”
“It was remarkable,” Suresh said. “There seems to be a small envelope of influence, where we could move things actually suspended in midair, and then as soon as they were released, they freeze in place again. You really do have a fascinating ability,” he added to Hiro.
Hiro beamed at both of them, rocking back on his heels. “Thank you,” he said. “I have to be careful, though. I could change the future too much, or cause a paradox.”
“You know,” Suresh began, “you two are really quite suited to each other. You both must have a unique perspective on time, and history.”
Adam shared a glance with Hiro, thinking about that. He, who had lived through history, who could have lived through far more, who would most likely live to see a distant future, and Hiro, who could visit any time he wished, who could control it and change it and move within it. Unique hardly seemed a strong enough word.
Suresh started to say more, but that was when the door opened and they all turned. Nikki turned out to be tall, blond, very pretty, but with weary eyes. She stopped when she saw them, casting a wary glance at Adam, then looking at Hiro with recognition. “I know you,” she said, moving toward them. “You were there that night.”
Hiro nodded. “Yes, I remember you were there too. With a man and a little boy.”
A shadow passed over her face, and she took a deep breath. “My son,” she said. “And my husband.”
Adam wasn’t sure if she’d lost both, or just one, but clearly she had lost someone. There was an awkward pause, Hiro watching her with dark, sad eyes, and then Suresh cleared his throat. “Nikki, apparently you’ve met Hiro, and this is Adam. It is his blood that’s vital to the cure for the virus.”
She softened visibly, offering Adam a small smile. “Then I have you to thank,” she said.
Adam shook his head. “Not really; most of what makes it is beyond me. It’s the doctor who put it together.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Suresh said, waving Nikki closer. “First we need to make sure it works. It was successful in lab tests, but the real trial is a live test.”
“Then let’s try it,” Nikki said, rolling up her sleeve.
“You understand this is experimental,” Suresh cautioned her, preparing the syringe. “I’ve tried Adam’s blood itself, and that worked, but his blood combined with my antibodies hasn’t been tested beyond the theoretical.”
She looked carefully at him, her eyes widening. “You tried the blood on yourself? That’s how your nose healed so fast.”
Suresh nodded, and Nikki smiled. “Good,” she said. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“She’s the one who broke it,” Suresh explained in response to Adam and Hiro’s confused looks. “It was an accident.”
“Sort of,” Nikki said quietly.
Adam looked at her again; she seemed normal, but then nobody he’d met since coming to the future had been what they seemed.
They watched as Suresh injected the solution into Nikki’s arm; it seemed like such a simple, small thing. Adam had seen fatal injuries before, and he’d seen men saved by medicine, but such medicine was sutures and bandages, not mysterious fluids and little glass tubes. The small puncture from the injection closed almost immediately, but beyond that there were no visible affects.
“We’ll have to give it a little time,” Suresh said. “Then we’ll run a blood test and check your viral load.”
She nodded, crossing her arms tightly around herself. “Even if it doesn’t work, I want to thank you for trying.”
“Nikki...” Suresh sighed, and patted her shoulder. “There’s no reason for it to not work, and if we hit a bump with this, I’m not just going to stop. This virus... well, I have reasons for wanting to beat it.”
“Why was it made in the first place?” Nikki asked.
Suresh shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know everything about it. The original strain, the Shanti virus, was naturally occurring, although it was very rare. We’ve seen more and more cases of it recently, in those with special abilities, but the core reason for the spread is still unknown.”
“It could be deliberate,” Adam pointed out. “You say it only affects those like us. Some people who felt threatened by those with power could use this virus as a way to take us out from a distance.”
“I have considered that,” Suresh said grimly. He opened his mouth to say more, then caught himself, looking around. “But right now we need to focus on the cure. Let’s take that blood test.”
Nikki held her arm out, but before Suresh could draw the blood, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, and then offered Nikki an apologetic look. “Sorry, just a minute.” He turned away and put the phone to his ear, and after a moment, Adam saw him stiffen.
“What do you want?” he asked, and then, “Don’t touch her.”
Adam exchanged a look with Hiro, then with Nikki, all of them hearing the fear in Suresh’s voice.
“No!” Suresh said, then, “Leave her out of this.” Another pause, and then he said through gritted teeth, “Fine. Whatever you want.” He gave their address, then hung up, staring at them all. “Get out of here, quickly.”
“What’s going on?” Nikki asked.
At the same time, Adam asked, “Who was that?”
Suresh braced his hands against the lab bench, then reached into a drawer under it and pulled out a gun. He stared at it in his hands for a long moment. “That was Sylar,” he said, and Adam felt Hiro clutch his arm, drawing in a harsh breath.
“No,” Hiro said. “No, he’s dead.”
“He’s alive,” Suresh replied flatly. “He’s got Molly, and he’s coming.”
~~~
It fell apart quickly from there. Hiro paced, muttering about timelines, about string and destiny and what might happen if he went back to kill Sylar again. Suresh tried to convince Nikki to run, she argued that he should call for help, he argued that Sylar had Molly and he wasn’t doing anything to put her in danger.
Adam, who only knew a little about Sylar from what Hiro had told him, felt edgy and lost and left out. Making a quick exit to Japan with Hiro seemed appealing, but he knew perfectly well Hiro wouldn’t allow it, and he realized with something like pride that he didn’t want to run, either.
“Why is he coming here?” Adam asked nobody in particular.
Suresh shook his head. “He didn’t say. He just wants me to help him.”
“With what?” Hiro asked, frowning.
“I don’t know.” Suresh ran a hand through his hair. He kept looking at the gun in his hand, putting it down, then picking it up again. “If I can just get Molly away from him...”
“How could he have survived?” Hiro said again. “I don’t understand how he’s still alive. Where has he been all this time?”
“What happened that night?” Suresh asked them. “After you stabbed him, what happened?”
“He fell down, he was bleeding everywhere,” Hiro said, his eyes distant. “He threw me in the air, I teleported so I wouldn’t hit the building. That’s all I know.”
“So he did survive long enough after you stabbed him to throw you,” Suresh pointed out.
“How did he throw anyone when he’d just been run through with a sword?” Adam asked. They all turned and looked at him for a moment as if he’d just asked something foolish, and he lifted his hands, frustrated. “I’ve never met the man, remember? What is it exactly that he does?”
Suresh closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in one hand. “He steals powers, abilities, from those like you. His most common tool is his telekinesis but he has other powers, too. I’m not sure how many he’s taken.”
Adam frowned, narrowing his eyes. “Steals... how?”
“He kills,” Hiro said softly. “I saw what he did, what he left behind. He takes their heads apart.”
“The source of power, if it has a source, is in the brain,” Suresh added. “That’s what he takes. What he cuts out.”
Adam swallowed, glad he hadn’t eaten. “Oh,” he said. “And we’re going to stay here and wait for his arrival, is that the plan?”
“No,” Suresh shot back, “I keep telling you to go! You should all leave; you all have powers that he would want. You’re targets and if he takes you, he’ll be even more powerful.”
“We’re not leaving,” Hiro said flatly. “He’s not expecting us to be here-maybe we can surprise him.”
“You could stop time,” Adam said. “That would make it easy.”
Hiro shook his head. “I tried that before. It doesn’t work on him; last time, he broke my sword.” Glancing at Adam, he added, “Our sword.”
“If we worked together, we could take him,” Nikki said. “We’re not going to get a lot of opportunities like this.”
“Put me out in front then,” Adam said, stepping forward. “He can’t hurt me, anyway.”
“He can,” Hiro argued. “He could kill you, and then he’d be invulnerable.”
And Adam thought, finally, because until now it had always been empty threats, playacting, never anything real. Maybe now he could be the man Hiro saw.
“I still say we should get help,” Nikki said again. “I’ve only seen a little of what the company can do, and the people working for them-”
“More people with powers,” Suresh cut in. “More targets for Sylar.”
She shook her head, waving one hand. “But he can’t beat us all at once!”
“Don’t be so sure,” Suresh replied. “I saw him go against Peter, who of all of you is probably the most powerful, and Peter lost. Got himself killed, actually.”
Hiro frowned. “I thought Peter was the exploding man?”
“He got better,” Suresh said. “That’s beside the point. Sylar is dangerous. What we need is some way to disable him, to remove his powers.”
“The virus,” Adam said. “Didn’t you say that’s what it does?”
Suresh lit up for a moment, turning toward his lab benches, but then he paused, shaking his head. “I don’t have the pure form of it here; it’s just too dangerous to leave lying around. It’s locked up back at the company.” He thought for a moment, then said, “But it would work, if we could get it into him. If we could trap him somehow, until I can get my hands on the virus.”
“No cage could hold him,” Hiro said. “He has the radioactive powers, he could burn through anything.”
There was quiet for a moment, and Adam watched them all in their little pockets of space, thinking so hard he could nearly hear it. “Well,” he said eventually. “I suppose we’ll just have to kill him.”
Suresh gave him a weary look. “I assure you, it’s easier said then done.”
That was when the door rattled, a child’s sharp cry of pain preceding him into the room.
“Molly!” Suresh said, taking half a step forward, then freezing. Sylar entered with her in front of him, one hand holding her in place, fingers digging into her small shoulder, a gun in the other hand, trained first on her, then on Suresh.
“Put it down,” Sylar said, gesturing toward the gun Suresh held. “You don’t want to scare her, do you?”
“Mohinder!” the child said, reaching toward him. Suresh put the gun down reluctantly, then held his hands up, palms out.
“Please,” he said. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I know you will,” Sylar replied. He glanced over at the rest of them, standing in a clump, and smiled. “And you brought me gifts. Very thoughtful.”
Adam edged closer to Hiro, murmuring to him. “He’s using a gun.”
“I saw it,” Hiro replied, confused.
“But why is he using a gun?” Adam asked. “He shouldn’t need one, right?”
“That’s right,” Nikki whispered, something sharp and predatory coming into her eyes. “What if he’s powerless?”
“What if he’s not?” Hiro shot back. “And even without his powers, he could kill her. We can’t take the chance.”
Sylar advanced far enough to snatch Suresh’s gun, tucked it into the back of his pants, then held his own to Molly’s head. She started to cry, and Suresh said, “Don’t! Just tell me what you want!”
“Any other guns?” Sylar asked. “And how about your friends over there, any surprises?”
“No,” Suresh said quickly. “I promise you, no.”
“You’d better not be lying to me,” Sylar replied. “I’d hate to ruin her pretty little face.”
Suresh closed his eyes for a moment. “I will help you,” he said. “I swear. Just. Please.”
Sylar nodded and pushed Molly toward them, and she ran straight for Nikki, who caught her and held her. Sylar kept his gun trained on her, and on the rest of them; Adam edged to the side to put himself between Hiro and the gun.
“I’m an excellent shot,” Sylar said. “Don’t get any ideas.” Then he spoke to Suresh over his shoulder, still keeping his eyes and aim on them. “Now. Find out what’s wrong with me, and fix it.”
Suresh frowned in confusion, but hurried to comply when Sylar waved the gun meaningfully. He drew some blood, starting up his machines.
“Are you okay, honey?” Nikki asked, letting Molly go.
She shook her head. “It’s him, he killed my parents and now he came back for me.”
“Do you know what he wants?” Hiro asked, crouching down to meet her eyes.
“No,” she said. “He just came to our door. He had a woman with him, a Spanish lady, but I screamed when I saw him and I tried to run and he caught me. I bit him and he hit me,” she added, rubbing a faint red mark on her cheek. “That’s when she started asking him what he was doing, and he just shot her, so fast!”
“I know this is scary,” Nikki said, smoothing Molly’s hair back from her face. “But I need you to think really hard. Did he do anything unusual? Like move something without touching it?”
Molly frowned, scrubbing at her eyes with small fists. “No. I remember him from before, he made things fly around the room. But he didn’t do it this time.”
Adam shared a glance with the other two, then looked across the room at Suresh and Sylar again. They were speaking quietly, Suresh pointing at something on a computer screen, Sylar refusing to turn and look at it, keeping his eyes on them, the gun up.
“Give it to me,” Sylar said, and Adam saw Suresh draw out a syringe of red fluid, but hesitate, meeting his eyes across the room.
“Now,” Sylar said, louder. He turned just a little, glaring at Suresh, and then things happened very fast.
“He doesn’t have his powers!” Suresh shouting, dropping the syringe on the table and trying to snatch the gun.
Sylar elbowing him in the gut, bringing the gun up.
Molly crying out, starting to run toward Suresh.
Hiro shouting, “Look out!” and pushing Molly down.
The report of the gun, loud, echoing, overlapping the scrape of wood as Nikki picks up a wooden table and hurls it across the room at Sylar.
Hiro’s choked cry as the bullet passes over Molly’s head and hits him in the chest, knocking him spinning backward to the floor.
Adam running, too late to stop it, to catch him, to do anything.
Sylar ducking the table, scooping up the syringe, bolting for the door, his pounding footsteps fading in Adam’s ears as he drops to his knees beside Hiro.
Suresh catching Molly in his arms, kissing her hair, checking her frantically for injuries.
Hiro lying on the floor, gasping, one hand reaching up for Adam’s.
It caught up with him then, the long stretch of seconds all at once, into this moment, Hiro dying in front of him and Molly crying and Nikki staring at her hands, incongruously happy, and Adam in the midst of it all, the only one who couldn’t be hurt, utterly untouched. The only blood on him was Hiro’s.
He pressed his hands over the wound in Hiro’s chest, feeling the hot rush of blood against them, Hiro shuddering, blood rimming his lips, bright red against the sick washed out gray of his skin. “No, no, Hiro, no,” he muttered, pushing harder. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you let me?”
“Oh God,” Nikki said, dropping down beside them. “I’m sorry.”
Adam ignored her. “Don’t,” he said to Hiro. “Don’t, no, come on, Hiro, you can’t. You can’t do this. Please.”
Hiro looked up at him, smiled, his eyes unfocused. “Kensei,” he said, and then the chest under Adam’s hands stilled and Hiro’s head tilted to the side, his face slack and empty.
Adam froze for a moment, then pushed on his chest again, shaking him, making him flop back and forth on the floor. “You can’t,” he said, “you can’t, you have to, come on, don’t do this! Come back, you have to, you have to come back.”
“Adam, quickly,” Suresh said at his side, Molly hiding her face against his shirt. “Your blood. It might not be too late.”
It took Adam a beat just to look at him, to register that there was anyone in the room but Hiro, and then it clicked and he ran for the lab, for the needles. Suresh followed, catching Adam before he could slice himself open just to get at his blood. “It has to be injected,” he said, and Adam made himself hold still long enough to get the blood drawn, Suresh using the biggest syringe he had.
Then they were kneeling over Hiro again and Suresh jammed the needle into his chest, between his ribs, directly over his heart. He pushed all the blood in and sat back, empty syringe forgotten on the floor beside him.
Adam touched Hiro’s face, pushed his glasses up for him, wiped the blood from his mouth. “Come on, carp,” he said softly. “Come back.”
For several very long seconds there was nothing, and then Nikki said, “Look!” and pointed at the gunshot wound on Hiro’s chest. The skin was closing in around it, the hole growing smaller, then disappearing, leaving no scar. Color bloomed in Hiro’s skin again and he gasped, his eyes opening.
“What?” he said, hands going automatically to his chest. “Did I...?”
“Don’t ever do that again,” Adam growled, and then pulled him up and pressed his face against Hiro’s neck and held him tight enough to feel every breath.
Hiro put a hand on his back and stroked him soothingly for a moment, but pulled away far before Adam was ready to let him go. “What about Sylar?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“He had the virus,” Suresh said. “The mutated strain, the same one you had,” he added to Nikki.
“So he was powerless,” she said, nodding.
“I could have stopped time and killed him,” Hiro said grimly. “I failed.”
“He was powerless, but now he’s got the cure,” Suresh said. “And obviously it works.”
Nikki nodded, her gaze going to the remains of the table, splintered against the opposite wall. “He’s back.”
~~~
Woo, action! *g* Thanks everyone, hope you like it.
Chapter Seven