Title: The Happiness Trap
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Pairing: Mohinder x OC
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: She can become anything for you. Wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol. It isn't a bad life to have everyone in the world at your beck and call.
Word Count: 717
Warnings: N/A

Disclaimer: Not mine. Summary belongs to Star Wars: The Original Series.

A/N: I am pretending Heroes: Reborn doesn't exist.

Cheerfulness (noun) – (adjective, cheerful) 1. Full of cheer; in good spirits 2. Promoting or inducing cheer; pleasant; bright 3. Characterized by or expressive of good spirits or cheerfulness 4. Hearty or ungrudging

"Miss Grey, here – try this." He waited until her attention dragged away from the market – the sights and sounds of his home – before offering her a piece of papaya. It was hard to come by, since usually the market stands sold out immediately. But on a hot day, it was heaven, and worth the early morning trek to the square. As she bit into the fruit, her eyes lit up, and he smiled at her charm.

Two months. It had been two months since she had broken into his apartment, looking for a cure, since they had come to live together. And he still knew very little about her. They knew little about each other, he amended, watching her peruse through the stalls, eyes bright and intent. He hadn't asked how she found him, had asked her nothing really, except questions about her powers and how they worked. It was like living with a science experiment – but one that walked and talked and breathed.

When she paused in front of a stall that had a Golden Langur perched on the table, Mohinder stopped as well to watch her. A part of him was wondering how the shop owner was managing to blatantly display India's endangered primate in the middle of a market square where it was not native. Most of him was simply entranced by the quicksilver intelligence in Sarah's eyes as she took in the monkey. Her eyes tracked it's movements as predatorily as any tiger, gears whirling in her eyes – her eyes –

Her eyes that were slowly shifting, changing. Her hands, when she reached out to offer her palm to the creature, were sprouting long tufts of golden hair –

"So how did you come to be in India, Miss Grey?"

At his sharply asked question, she started, turning to him. He watched the human fade back into her eyes, the change reverting. He wondered if she had even been aware of it. She shrugged as they began walking again, glancing back once more at the Langur, before letting her eyes trail over stalls full of cloth and spices, produce and wine. "To find you."

Mohinder blinked. Somehow he had never realized she had traveled here specifically for him, thinking only that she sought him out because they were in the same country. "Ah –"

A small smile bloomed on her face. "Don't take it too personally, Doctor. I've been to many countries, spoken to many doctors… Though, none of them had gifts, so I couldn't really explain myself to them." She picked up a brightly patterned scarf, letting the fabric run through her fingers, eyes unfocused and distant. "It was always hard to explain to them what I wanted from them, why I needed it."

When she trailed off, he broke the silence. "It's alright, you don't have to explain that to me, Miss Grey. I of all people should know the risks that come with certain gifts." Her brow creased, so he gestured for her to follow him, and they walked for several long moments in quiet. "All I wanted was to be different. But when I awakened by genes, when I... changed myself," he swallowed thickly, "I was… different. Angry. Violent." His eyes, when they stared into hers were guilty and ashamed. "I had to find a way to make myself better – something more normal – or I wouldn't be able to live."

He jerked when a delicate hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. Emerald eyes were soft, there was no judgment there. "Then I guess we're a perfect match."

As they walked back to their apartment, Sarah let their fingers intertwine, and neither one of them thought about letting go.