Title: Not Innocent
Author: Kristy
Disclaimer: If I owned Heroes, Mohinder would be getting a lot more play from the ladies ;D
Rating: T – because the original was T
Summary: Written as a companion piece to GxK's "Guilty." Eden/Mohinder, AU continuing from Better Halves, and Eden does not die. Spoilers for Season 2 involved.
URL to Guilty: /s/4279012/1/
She wakes to movement at her side and warmth dissolving from the sheets. She knows enough not to stir, not to shiver in the new chill of the early morning. She pauses a breathless moment, listening to the rustle of clothing. Finally she can't take it and slips her eyes half open. As she guessed, he is nearly dressed and fumbling for the door. His eyes sweep across her form once more and she hesitates before closing her eyes shut once again. It's only once she hears the front door creak open and shut that she sits up, pulling the sheets close to her body. She resists the urge to cry, knowing for a fact that it's better this way.
As much as she would like to have had a relationship with him beyond last night, she knew it wouldn't be possible. It certainly wasn't why she was sent there in the first place. No, she was sent to observe and make sure thing didn't get out of hand – not to get this close.
It takes her nearly an hour to rise from the bed. She winces at the ache she feels, but decides to relish it, as it is likely the only thing she will have to remember him. Despite her orders and her own emotions, she still hopes he won't come back to the peril that lurks in New York. He is intelligent and accomplished and, better still, safe in India; he didn't deserve being in constant danger from the Sylars of the world.
After gaining Isaac's trust, she walks in a fog through the Company facilities. Bennet has noticed, of course, but he is more wrapped up in the impending Homecoming than in her inconsistencies. She receives a few confused glances, but nothing more.
She uses her powers on Isaac. After, she bends over heaving against the sink in the storeroom, tears streaming down her face. She had been promised, promised, that she would never have to use her powers again. It was far too tempting, and even the small relapse drained her. And yet, she realizes as she presses her back into the wall and curls her legs into her body, this experience is the first time she was allowed to look beyond that selfish night she let herself have.
A week later, Bennet nonchalantly tells her that Mohinder has returned. There is a question in his eye, betraying his attempt at normalcy. She swallows thickly and sends up a silent prayer that he remains safe, and doesn't address Bennet's sidelong glance. She is walking back to her room after that conversation when Thompson stops her with a hand to the shoulder and a smirk on his face. Her eyes finally find what he is holding in his hand and her stomach plummets. Now she understands the smugness surrounding him. He knows she's pregnant.
She is thrust into a cell without further thought. She caresses her belly, grateful for the one gift she has left. But she fears for their safety. She knows the Company would not outright hurt her or her child as long as she cooperates. But she also knows that if her child does exhibit powers, it would mean testing and experimenting that could end with a person much like Elle.
She cries at her ultrasound, and it was as typical as any new mother at the first sight of their growing child. And she wishes so hard that he could be there, clutching her hand with a shimmer in his deep eyes, seeing the tiny form and hearing the rapid beating. Instead the technician is cold, leaving her without a second glance. And that's when she realizes the tears aren't just from happiness.
She can't use her powers here, she found. She had tried numerous times. But her Voice never came, and the people never obeyed. But she is allowed to grin when she is nearly three months along and overhears that Bennet killed Thompson. She dreams of karma, destiny, and a place carved out in her heart for the life she wants.
Time is passed only through the growth in her belly and the occasional news Elle brings. She had once thought the girl far too sadistic, far too sociopathic to have a sensitivity. But Eden recognizes the loneliness in her and empathizes. It only helps her in this matter, as Elle is all too willing to share information. And Eden craves it, even if she feels a sting with the mention of her new partner.
Her hair is longer now, a result of time and hormones. It is nearly as long as it was before Bennet found her (before Chandra, before lizard Mohinder, before him). She twirls it around her finger with one hand resting on the bump and wonders if her child would have that color or texture of hair. And she conjures up his image in her mind to meld their looks together to form their child, but she finds that it has been too long, and his image has faded. She cries again, long shuddering sobs at the thought. It doesn't help.
It doesn't hurt as much as she would have thought when her water breaks and the first contractions seize her one night. She doesn't think much about it at first, but then begins to worry as waves of warmth travel through her abdomen after each moment of pain. Healing warmth.
Surprisingly, Elle is by her side, ever more human under his guidance. When her daughter is finally born, she doesn't cry. She simply sucks in a deep breath and sighs, large eyes seeking the world beyond what she knew. Eden cradles her in her arms, and stares down at her, silently taking in what makes the tiny being hers. She notes the shape of her eyes, the dimples in her cheeks. Her eyes are newborn blue, but Eden knows they will change. What she finds the most is the things she hoped for – the color in her skin, the darkness of her hair, and the shape of her lips. She is Mohinder, her own little piece.
They are waiting, she can tell. Watching and waiting for the moment when her daughter, her little Evie, would develop a power. She already knew that she would exhibit one. The spontaneous healing at her birth was proof enough. Evie has little problems; she rarely cries, and when she wakes in the dark it doesn't matter since Eden often stares at her for half the night in wonderment anyway.
She is nearly three months old when the lock slides to her door (cell). Elle slips inside with a blanket tucked under her arm, which would be no shock if it wasn't 3 am and if her eyes weren't so clouded.
"Here," she says simply, handing her a cup of pills. Eden takes it warily, but downs them without trouble. Elle wraps Evie in the soft pink and white blanket she came in with and then hands the bundle to Eden. Evie peers at her with her large curious dark eyes but doesn't make a sound.
"Elle, what –" she begins, but she shakes her head. The blonde pushes a ticket into her hands and she looks down to see it is for a one-way flight to New York. She understands immediately. Elle is giving her an escape.
She has nothing packed and manages to convince a flight attendant to procure her a car seat, so she is seated in the plane almost immediately. The five-hour flight only gives her too much time to think. She busies herself with her daughter as a ball of nervousness grows and envelops her.
She really can't remember just how she got to his door, but before she can make herself stop, she is knocking on the door with one hand and balancing Evie with the other. The door still has that creak as it opens, looking like it might fall apart with the slightest touch. It's the look of him that startles her.
He is still that striking, but he is also worn, tired, defeated. His eyes light as he sees her, the confusion bright inside them. She stares right back, re-memorizing him as she recognizes the similarities in her daughter.
And that's when his eyes flicker down to Evie. He seems stunned, and she watches as his jaw clenches and his Adam's apple bobs up and down.
Finally he forces out an "is she …." He trails off and pushes the blanket away from her face. Her heart twists as he takes in the look of his daughter, his mouth parted in shock as he takes in tiny features that she has studied before.
Feeling embarrassed, she gently places her in his arms and her heart swells as he sucks in a breath at the moment. She doesn't dare say a word as father and daughter stare into each other's matching eyes to acquaint themselves.
He stumbles back a few steps and collapses into a kitchen chair. She steps inside the apartment, almost unwilling, feeling like she didn't belong. Suddenly all her fantasies were silly; surely they hadn't known each other long enough to have truly felt that way for one another. But then his eyes meet hers with the emotion she had felt every day since they had met. She has to glance away, not sure she is deserving of any of it.
"I owe you both an apology."
She looks back into his eyes, forcing back every emotion. "Maybe. But I owe you more."
The End! Thanks to GxK to letting me write this!