Author's note: telepathic communication will be in italics. Standard 'how-the-transformations-work' stuff for werewolves, etc. may not apply here. This is AU in that Mo has superstrength at the same time that he, Molly, and Matt are living together in S2. Set in S2 while Mohinder is working a side project with the Company.
Author's note (2): This is a twoendings fic, so the story starts here. You can then choose from two different endings - found in Chapters 2 and 3. So that's one story with two endings - your choice of angst or schmoop, like a choose your own slash-adventure. :)
Originally written for a request at twoendings over on livejournal : "Twoendings" is a community where you can request or write fic stories in any fandom, and then you write two different endings for the same story. Cool idea, right? Visit and write for it if you like writing fic, or make requests if you just like reading it. (It's not my comm or anything, I just wrote this one story but it seems like a very cool place.)
Fic:
Stop giving me that bitchface, Matt telepathically complained to Mohinder, Otherwise, Molly will know something is wrong. Matt gestured to Molly below, happily carrying her trick-or-treating bag in one hand and her giant magnifying glass (stolen from Mohinder's lab of course) in the other. Between the glass and her coat and her exact-replica hat, she really did look like a little Sherlock Holmes.
This is not a bitchface, this is a serious issue, Matt, he said mentally back, We have to tell her that we're breaking up. He gave a quick once over to Matt's teddy bear costume and tried not to think how hard it was to have a serious conversation when Matt was dressed like this.
Let's just let her have a fun Halloween and then we'll tell her tomorrow, Matt telepathically said to Mohinder, gazing at him intently.
Wonderful. We'll just make sure that every time she has a nice family day, she'll suspect that we're only playing nice because the other shoe's about to drop, Mohinder muttered in his head. Brilliant plan, Matt.
I heard that, Mohinder.
Good, Mohinder said.
"Hey, are you guys mind talking again!?" Molly said. Matt and Mohinder gave each other looks of blame before plastering smiles on their faces.
"Just debating if we should stop for ice cream on the way home," Matt said.
"Awesome idea! Let's go to that place where you can get a sundae with gummy bears and M&Ms mixed in," Molly said.
"I think you already have a bag full of refined sugars, right, Matt?" Mohinder said.
"Some of us think Halloween should be fun, Mohinder," he replied.
Mohinder was about to respond when Molly screamed. The two men turned to see where she was pointing and saw an enormous wolf walking slowly toward them, yellow eyes glowing, saliva dripping from its fangs in mucus-thick plops.
But just as it was about to attack, and as Mohinder and Matt leapt in front of Molly to shield her, the wolf fell asleep, giving a wide yawn as it collapsed. It would have been comical if they didn't just a second ago know that they were about to be ripped apart by those teeth and claws.
"It worked," Matt said, sounding both confused and relieved.
Perceiving his point, Mohinder asked, "You told it to go to sleep?"
"You saved us, Matt!" Molly said, "Mohinder, aren't you happy that Matt saved us?" she asked pointedly.
Matt and Mohinder looked at each other, not needing telepathy to remind each other that the perceptive girl surely had noticed something was wrong between the two of them. And the truth was, Mohinder was quite grateful that he was with Matt at the moment. So Mohinder said, "Yes, thank you , Matt. I have to say, I... feel a lot safer when you're around."
Matt looked surprised to see the sincerity in Mohinder's eyes; he had still not gotten used to the way Mohinder wore his heart on his sleeve, anger and kindness taking their turns faster than Matt could sometimes keep up with. And he was still a little embarrassed by Mo's open expressions of emotion, so he just gave a miniature nod, and then changed the subject, "But I can't tell animals what to do."
"Well, apparently you can," Mohinder said, his mind running through the most likely scientific causes for this new dimension to Matt's power.
"No, Mohinder, my power only works on people, I'm positive."
"Maybe the wolf is a person!" Molly suggested, "Maybe it's a werewolf."
"I don't think-"
But Mohinder's thoughts were interrupted as a naked man groaned on the grass where an instant ago a wolf had been. As the man struggled to his feet, they covered Molly's eyes and asked him, "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Jim. I'm the librarian at the public library on 5th. Do... any of you know how I got here? Or where my clothes are? Or whose... fur this is on the ground?"
Matt rolled his eyes and handed the man his jacket. Jim was much shorter than Matt, so the jacket fortunately covered what it needed to cover.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Matt said, and for just a moment, Mohinder remembered how much he liked Matt's 'cop voice.'
Jim answered, "I was talking to this kid, who was checking out some scary stories - a lot of kids do at Halloween, right - and then I was telling him about how I made my werewolf costume from recycled coffee cups, and then all of a sudden I was in pain and I was hungry and I was desperate to get out of the library into the moonlight, and then - I saw you guys talking."
He's telling the truth, Matt said mentally to Mohinder.
"I'll take Jim home and see that he's all right," Mo said, "And you can check out the library and figure out what's going on."
"No!" Molly said, "We all stick together!"
"Molly, we-"
"You promised we would spend Halloween together as a family! If we have to stop trick-or-treating to help people, that's okay because it's the right thing to do. But we have to work together. You promised!" Molly gave one of the most impressive pouts either man had ever seen as she put her hands on her hips.
Jim said, "You know I really feel better now, I can take myself home and just - ahhh-aaaaahhhh!!!!"
They gaped as they saw hair grow out of all his pores, as his face lengthened and teeth flashed. "The moon!" Molly yelled, pointing at the full circle that was emerging again from behind a dark cloud.
Sleep! And don't wake up for 24 hours! Matt commanded, and this time, when Jim plopped to the ground, sending up a puff of loose fur, Molly just giggled.
On their way to investigate the library, they ran into 3 more werewolves, 2 vampires, and 1 very large demon. Luckily, they were all human enough for Matt to order to fall asleep, though with the vamps, he had to convince them that the backseat of their Audi was actually a coffin. The mere fact that the vampires were driving an Audi was enough to convince them that this was not necessarily a strictly supernatural problem.
The biggest difficulty was when a man saw Mohinder use his super-strength against the demon, distracting it long enough for Matt to work his power. Apparently convinced that Mohinder was a monster, he started shooting arrows at him, then throwing knives. Matt was distracted at first by finishing off the demon, but then turned his attention to the man.
Who are you?
"Van Helsing. Hey! How did you get me to say that? Are you a witch?"
Why are you Van Helsing?
"What kind of question is that? What are you, an idiot?"
Matt sighed and then asked again, Think back. How did you become Van Helsing? Were you at a library?
Van Helsing thought a moment and then said, "Yes, actually. I was with a child, telling him the story of ... me. Wait, how did you know that? Witch! I'll burn you, witch!"
"That is an incredibly close-minded attitude," Mohinder said, "Throughout history, those who are different have been accused of-"
Van Helsing suddenly collapsed onto the ground, then began snoring.
Matt looked at Mohinder innocently and said, "I guess he thought your monologues were boring."
Mohinder did his best not to laugh but didn't quite succeed, and Molly smiled as she noticed the corners of Mohinder's mouth turn up.
"Fine, be that way," Mohinder said, "But next time, make sure we don't have any more questions for them before you make them go Sleeping Beauty."
"I think you would make a good Sleeping Beauty, Mohinder," Molly said, "Don't you think so, Matt?"
Smirking, Matt telepathically said to Mohinder, Well there was that time I woke you up by--
Not in front of Molly!
She can't hear us, Mohinder!
Still, it's - distracting.
"Fine, let's get going," Matt said out loud, amused by Mohinder's flustered reaction. Molly looked up at them as they walked with a very satisfied smile.
At the library, there were monsters everywhere they looked. More werewolves and vampires, but also some unicorns and dragons and a Centaur. And some people who weren't monsters but.. who weren't exactly were they should be either. Victorian ladies sipping tea while making ironic comments about social mores. A young man in tights talking to a skull. Some guy who wouldn't stop talking about a whale.
Matt tried to listen for the thoughts of the people there, but he was almost overloaded with information. It turns out pirates have a lot of very dirty thoughts. Seriously, they made Matt want to take a shower and never look at the ocean again. And the ninjas just kept thinking of ways to kill the pirates, and it was hard to get such violent thoughts out of his head. And then one of the unicorns was a porn addict, and the guy in tights may have been suicidal - Matt listened to his thoughts but he couldn't decide for sure - and then of course there was the vampire who was worried about a presentation he had to give on Monday while simultaneously wondering what his boss' blood tasted like.
Matt almost collapsed from the overload of all these thoughts - a building full of confused people, each one holding two competing consciousnesses, had overwhelmed even his practiced senses. But Mohinder's arms caught him on the way down, far stronger than they looked, and as Matt tried to regain his faculties, he fixed his mind on the sight in front of his eyes, on Mohinder's concerned eyes and his kind smile. And finally he was able to recover.
He smiled at Mohinder and said, "Let me try again." He listened to the voices in the minds of everyone at the library until he found one that wasn't sharing a room with a fictional character. This one was saying, "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to, this is all my fault."
Matt looked up at Mohinder and Molly, startled. He said, "It's just a kid. A kid's doing all of this. But he didn't mean to. He's -- he's like us."
Mohinder considered this as he looked at Matt's urgent look. He could tell that Matt was trying to tell him not to bring the Company in on this, that they could not possibly be trusted with a powerful child, that the boy would be nothing but a weapon for them. This was the source of their most serious arguments - that Matt thought it was dangerous for Molly for Mohinder have anything to do with the Company, or, for that matter, with Bennett's anti-Company crusade. Both sides were full of manipulators and killers, Matt thought, and that was reason enough to choose family over some loftier goal of taking them down.
But now they were about to come face-to-face with an extremely dangerous- yet likely innocent- child. And Mohinder, despite the fact that he knew that playing along with the Company was the best long-term strategy for protecting his loved ones, knew that actually turning over a child to them could only have ill consequences. So he answered Matt's unspoken question. "Then we'll help him, Matt. Just us."
And Matt led them into the stacks, past the horror section, right into the classic literature shelves, where, hiding in a corner, they found a boy a few years younger than Molly, crying in a ball on the floor.
He was scared at first, refusing to talk to them or even look up. But when he did, and he saw Matt's teddy bear costume, Matt immediately became Winnie the Pooh. Molly giggled profusely as Matt went over to lick Mohinder's face, assuring him that he tasted just like honey. But then when the boy looked at Molly, she suddenly took on a much more serious demeanor.
"What's wrong, Molly?" Mohinder said, worriedly, as he tried to keep Matt relaxed by rubbing his belly.
"Elementary, dear Suresh," Molly said, her face taking on a rather analytical bent, "Obviously, this boy is turning people into the fictional characters he imagines them as."
Mohinder had never been happier that he refused to wear a costume. No use giving the kid any ideas. But he kneeled down in front of the scared boy and said, "It's okay if you've been changing people. You must be very confused. But we three also have special powers. We want to help you, so you can understand what's going on."
The boy seemed to find Mohinder's gentle voice reassuring because he stopped trembling and gave Mohinder a smile. "My name's Jonny," he said.
"I'm Mohinder, this is Molly, and the bear is Matt."
Molly replied, "Call me Holmes. Now then, based on the evidence, I have concluded that being scared - for instance when being confronted, or being told a scary story - triggers the power, much like an autonomic response. You obviously read well above your grade level,Jonny, and so it is probable that you use fiction to escape from your fears. Thus, when scared, you change the nearest person into the fictional character they most remind you of. This also explains why the ability manifested on Halloween, due to the ubiquity of frightening images on this day."
"Is that true?" Mohinder asked, "Do people change when you get scared?"
"I'm sorry," Jonny said, "Didn't mean to."
"The only logical solution is for you to stop being scared and change people back," Molly said.
"Do you think you can do that?" Mohinder said, "Jonny, will you try to remind yourself that we're here to help and there's nothing to be scared of? Focus on that and try to turn Matt back into a man."
Jonny wiped tears away from his face a got a determined look. In a moment, Matt was back to his normal self.
Mohinder gave Matt a big smile. Matt gave him a glare and said, We never speak of this again.
No need to be embarrassed, Mohinder said, not quite sincerely.
Molly said to him, "Dear Parkman, it's delightful that you're you again! Now that I've solved the case, I think it's time for me to play the violin and smoke some opium."
"Change Molly back next!" Matt and Mohinder shouted in unison, and soon Molly was back to her old non-opium-smoking self.
They used Molly's power to find all the people Jonny had changed, starting with his father, who was - of course- the Van Helsing. Then Van Helsing, who was actually an accountant named Tom, helped them 'hunt down' all the others, and change them back. With his father holding him, Jonny found it much less of a struggle to be brave in front of monsters, and soon all the characters were back to their normal selves.
When they were done, the kids were exhausted, and after they gave Tom the ex-Van-Helsing their phone number in case of emergency, they all went home. But after they put Molly to bed, Matt and Mohinder went to the kitchen for tea. They had things to talk about.