The burning pain in his neck and back forced hi awake. Eyes peeling open, Matt pushed himself forward in the chair, stretching out his spine in a desperate attempt to smooth out the knots that had collected overnight. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it had just gone 8.20. Before him, Molly slept peacefully in her bed, finally at ease after the events of the previous night.
He rubbed his hands across his face, sighing deeply. If Mohinder didn't return soon, he didn't know how much longer he would be able to cope. He was the scientist, he was the one who could save her. Matt was just useless. There was nothing he could do other than stand by and watch as...as his daughter slipped further and further away from him. It wasn't fair, that such a young life had to be tormented by the burden of having an ability. It was such an ability that had destroyed Matt's life, losing him his job, his home, his family.
Molly hadn't exactly had it easy either. She was one of the first to come down with the virus, and the very first to be healed. Again, Matt found himself praising God for Mohinder. After all, it was his blood that cured her. Time and again, Mohinder did more for Molly than Matt could ever hope to do. Sure, he'd found hr in her home after Syler killed her parents, but from there it was the rest of his team that had cared for her. He never even thought to find out what had happened to her since. He still didn't know how she ended up going from the safety of the police to ending up in the hands of The Company.
And now these nightmares. Whenever she was awake Matt could see the huge impact they were having on her life. She was always tired, and when he looked at her, he saw the face of an old woman blinking back at him. It pained him to watch her suffer. It angered him that he couldn't switch places with her and take the weight from her small shoulders. He couldn't even begin to imagine the horror she went through every night, so much so she couldn't even talk to him about it. Molly could talk for America when she wanted to. To see her so distant increased Matt's concerns even more.
He thought back to the time she first told him and Mohinder about her ability. The fear in her eyes when she thought about Syler was nothing compared to that when she had hissed: "There's one person I cant think about. Because, when I think about him...He can see me."
For the thousandth time, Matt rifled through the crayon drawings that littered Molly's bedside table, the numerous malicious pairs of eyes she had drawn over and over again. Whatever was going on in her nightmares, something in them made her think of that one person, the person she feared more than anyone, more than Syler...
The sound of a key turning in the lock and the door jangling open made Matt jump. The night before had set him on edge, even the tiniest of noises made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He rose to his feet, hesitantly leaving Molly's room and closing the door behind him. Standing by the door was Mohinder, his suitcase by his feet as he locked up again. Releasing the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding on to, Matt slumped back against the wall.
Mohinder turned, his deep brown eyes filling with concern as he took in Matt's sleep deprived form. "Matt? What's going on? You look terrible."
When he spoke, Matt realised how much he had missed his voice, that odd mix of Indian and British that he had come to find comfort in. And yet here he was, finding he was growing angry in spite of himself. Angry at himself, that he couldn't do anything to help Molly, angry at Mohinder for not being there when they needed him most, heck, even angry at the universe for cursing them with these wretched abilities.
"What's going on?" Matt repeated, his voice low as the anger boiled inside him. "What's going on is that your 'weekend trip', your 'quick business trip', turned into a week away!"
Mohinder sighed, dragging a hand through his unruly curls. "Look, I'm sorry about that. But something came up at The Company and-"
"Who cares about The Company?" Matt yelled suddenly, remembering at the last second that Molly was asleep in the next room. He lowered his voice. "Have you forgotten what they did to me? What they've done to hundreds like me?"
"I am working to take this Company down, and you know that. Why are you acting like such a child all of a sudden?" Mohinder snapped.
Matt opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to retaliate. Finally, he said, "Something's come up. Something bad. And when we needed you...you weren't here."
Mohinder's face fell. Tentatively, he came closer, placing his hands comfortingly on Matt's shoulders.
"Hey...it's okay. I'm here now." He whispered softly.
Matt felt his anger melting away, replaced again by the overwhelming tiredness and the ache in his heart over Molly. Mohinder wrapped his arms around him, enveloping him in his warm embrace.
"What's happened?" He murmured in his ear.
Matt sighed deeply. "It's Molly."
Mohinder pulled away from him, frowning in concern. "Molly? Is she okay?"
Matt felt his heart sinking deeper and deeper. Against his will, tears began to shimmer in his eyes. He looked up, blinking furiously to stop them from falling. He shook his head sadly.
"No." He whispered. "She's not okay and I don't know what I can do to help her. She's been having nightmares. Real bad ones. Her school told me about it, I didn't even realise. And...she's been drawing these."
He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, smoothing it out to reveal to Mohinder one of Molly's drawings.
He reached out and took the paper in his own hands, examining it closely. "When did this start?"
"I don't know." Matt looked away, ashamed.
"You don't know?" Now it was Mohinder's turn to get angry, to raise his voice. "What do you mean you 'don't know'? This is our daughter, Matt! You have to put her first. You can't be so selfish all the time."
"You think I don't realise that?" Matt shot back. "At least I'm actually here for her. Where were you? Every day she asks me 'when is Mohinder coming back?' or 'how long until he comes home?' And I can't even answer those questions, because I hardly know myself anymore!"
The pair were interrupted by the sound of the door knob behind them turning. Molly emerged from her room in her pyjamas, her hair sticking out at odd angles, rubbing her tired eyes with her hands.
"What's all the yelling ab-" She began, until her eyes fell on Mohinder and her entire face lit up. Almost immediately, she looked like a little girl again, a huge smile spreading from ear to ear. "Mohinder, you're home!" She exclaimed, running at him.
Mohinder, too, smiled. He crouched down and stretched out his arms, as Molly ran into him and wrapped herself around him. He lifted her in the air, tenderly kissing the top of her head. His eyes met Matt's over her shoulder, and he frowned softly, almost apologetically.
Matt turned away and headed to the kitchen. He knew they wouldn't be able to finish this conversation until Molly was asleep, and the way things were going, that could take a long time.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
That night, Matt found himself with company as he sat in the huge arm chair beside Molly's bed. Him and Mohinder had both squeezed between the arm rests, sitting close to each other as they watched over their daughter. She'd went to bed about an hour and a half ago, and already she had woken up twice screaming, sweat pouring down her face. They'd taken it in turns to go and sit beside her, gently stroking her hair until she drifted into sleep again.
Mohinder's face grew more worried every minute, which did nothing to ease Matt's nerves. Neither knew what was going on, nor how they could stop it. Matt found his head filled with his own waking nightmares, dark thoughts that he couldn't push away. He didn't want to inflict those on Mohinder, but he knew he couldn't keep them to himself for much longer.
"Mohinder?" He whispered tentatively.
The other man turned to face him briefly, acknowledging the fact he'd just been spoken to.
"What if..." He sighed, not wanting to finish the sentence. "What if this doesn't go away?"
For a second, Mohinder's face flashed with a fear that Matt had never seen before, but it was gone so quickly he wondered if he'd perhaps imagined it.
"Of course it will go away." He said firmly, more to himself than to Matt. "In time, everything will be okay again."
"So...there's nothing we can do?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer. "Not even you?"
"Matt." Mohinder sighed, taking Matt's hand in his own. "What do you want me to do? I have no more control over this than you do."
"But you're the doctor, you're the one that can actually help, right?" He pleaded, feeling an overwhelming hopelessness crashing over him.
"I'm a geneticist, Matt. Not a doctor." Mohinder said quietly, looking deep into Matt's eyes. "Right now, all either of us can do for Molly is just...to be here for her. Make sure she's alright when she wakes up."
Matt nodded, although he still felt they should be doing something, anything other than sitting here whilst their daughter suffered.
As though it was himself with the ability to read minds, Mohinder said, "We will find a way to help her. I promise."
Again, Matt nodded sullenly.
"Matt, look at me." Mohinder spoke again.
Reluctantly, Matt turned to face him, feeling his eyes welling with tears. Mohinder placed a gentle hand on his cheek, holding him close. Their foreheads touched softly, their eyes locking together. Matt found himself getting lost in those deep brown pools before him, felt some of his worries slipping away as he settled against Mohinder.
"It'll be okay." He whispered. "We...we'll figure it out. Together."
They stayed there for what seemed eternity, hand in hand, letting their worries wash together until they were one with the other, offering a comforting light of hope to each other through the darkness of their suffering.
Mohinder was right. He was no use to Molly blindly panicking. For the first time since this had all started, Matt felt safe. Knowing that Mohinder was here beside him was all he needed. He was right. Together they would pull through this. Together, they would figure it out. Together was how they did everything, and it wasn't about to change.