Brave Chapter 6: Passion, a heroes fanfic

Title: Passion
Author: sorion
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Sylar/Claire
Rating: PG
Word count: ~5,500
Summary: Men of curiosity and passion need courage and understanding to find their common goal.

A small part of the aforementioned babysitter weekend ;)

Okay... this isn't the last part, it just kind of sneaked in ;) One more missing :)

Passion

Mohinder Suresh's finger hovered over the doorbell that had 'Gray & Petrelli' written below it in clear black on white letters. When he had heard of Peter moving from one coast to the other, he had hoped… well… he had at least thought that it was a possibility that Peter had left that questionable part of his life behind him.

It would appear that he had not. After the happenings at the carnival, Mohinder had thrown himself into work, had accepted far too many queries of assistance of all kinds of geneticists all over the world, helping with the practical knowledge he had of Specials, always holding back on the possibly horribly damaging information of artificially creating such abilities. That was one thing at least that he had managed to hide. It was too dangerous a path (at least at this time in history), and there were thankfully quite a lot of people strewn across the world who would quench attempts in the earliest possible stages, were they to appear.

After more than a year of intensive work, he had on the one hand indeed missed some of the friends he had made, and on the other hand had a few questions regarding empathic mimicry. Which was what led him to Peter Petrelli, first.
And while he had known that Peter apparently had had reasons to share his apartment in New York with someone he swore on his brother's grave was different, for a brief moment Mohinder had entertained the thought that maybe that had changed.

On his way here, Mohinder had tried to make himself believe that he could trust himself with… Gray.
Now, he was not so sure anymore. What would he do if Peter was not at home but instead only…

"Mohinder?" a voice asked from behind him and he turned around.

"Peter!" he greeted the man with a smile and a fair amount of relief, taking his hand.

Peter grinned. "You in the country, again?"

"I've been… around."

"Yeah, we heard. You still talk to my mom, after all." He frowned at him a bit, only partly playful.

Mohinder looked taken aback. "Yes… and I must apologise. I have let work take me over by quite a bit, I'm afraid." He had forced himself to call Molly regularly and even visit every now and then, though 'now and then' had amounted to exactly three visits in one year.

Peter clapped his shoulder. "Not a problem. Wanna come in for a moment? I'm about to head out, though. You're welcome to join me if you like," he rambled off, opening the door and walking ahead.

Mohinder followed him and closed the door. "I don't mean to intrude…" His eyes darted around the welcoming view of the very homey living room, nervously.

"Don't worry, man." He headed towards the stairs. "Be right back. Help yourself to a drink in the kitchen," he called over his shoulder.

Mohinder walked further into the house. To his utmost surprise, he found a large… toy castle standing in the corner, one of the size that a small child could easily fit in. A stuffed plush dragon sat on top of it. Some colourful blocks were strewn around it on the floor.
There was… a child living here?

He was still standing there, frozen in place when Peter returned from upstairs, now only wearing swimming shorts and an open button-down shirt.

Peter grinned at Mohinder's expression. "Oh, that," he chuckled. "Gabriel is babysitting Mattie this weekend, so he and Claire got the castle last week. Mattie could only be coaxed out of it with promises of going swimming." He looked pointedly down himself. "Which is where I'm heading, too, actually."
He held out a second pair of shorts and threw it to Mohinder. "Tag along?"

If Mohinder had thought before that he'd been frozen in place because of the castle, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. "Gabriel… is…" He shook himself. "What?"

Peter's smile made way to a weary sigh. "I guess it's going to take a while until we get out of here…"

That reaction startled Mohinder awake at least a little. "I'm sorry," he said. He was, after all, in the other man's home, a home he shared with Gabriel. "Your mother mentioned… Gabriel, of course. As did Molly. But…" No matter how hard he tried, he was still at a loss for words.

"You still hate him because he killed your father, and my mother is known to vouch for psychopaths if they suit her purpose," Peter finished for him. He left out Molly on purpose. She was… a different story entirely.

"Not quite how I would have…" He stopped and cleared his throat, uncomfortably. "Essentially," he conceded.

Peter couldn't help but snort in amusement. "And I'm a hopeless idealist who wants to believe in the good of people at all costs, right?" he added, walking towards the kitchen. If he was going to be late, he might as well have a coffee, first.

"No!" Mohinder immediately insisted. "I very much value your opinion, Peter."

Peter turned on the coffee maker. "But it doesn't change what he did," he said, quietly. "Coffee?"

Mohinder shook his head and took a seat on one of the barstools. "No, thank you."

"We can't undo what Sylar did," Peter said, absently reaching for his favourite cup. "But I can guarantee you that the part of him that made him do these things is gone. He is a good man." He pushed the button.

"Believe it or not, I wouldn't mind it at all if you were right, but he has deceived people before."

"Ah." Peter nodded, adding some sugar to his coffee. "You… Maya."

"And Elle I would imagine…"

"No," Peter interrupted coldly. At Mohinder's shocked face, he took a deep breath. "That is not my story to tell, but no. He didn't deceive her." He laughed, cynically. "He was deceived a lot more than the other way around."

Mohinder knew enough to be unable to argue with that. He nodded, slowly.

"I know… literally everything that is to know about him," Peter said. "Good and bad. And make no mistake, I know just how bad he could get. In detail. Some of that I remember myself quite vividly. And yet…" his dark expression lightened, "… I love him. I would trust him with my life. I…" he laughed, "… I trust him with Claire and Mattie Parkman's lives." He symbolically pointed towards the front door. "And I am absolutely certain that neither of them could possibly be any safer right now than with him."

Mohinder had almost considered that the Mattie Peter had mentioned before was the Parkman boy, but had then dismissed it as ridiculous. Matt Parkman wouldn't… "Matt and Janice asked Gabriel to babysit?" he spluttered. The words felt a lot more ridiculous when spoken out loud. "I mean, no matter how nice a guy you all claim he is now, having him… babysit is…"

Peter couldn't help it. He had to laugh. "You never went to a future where he was a father…"

"He's… going to be a father?"

Peter's smile vanished. "Not… that one. That future's not going to happen." Then his lip twitched. "I'm seeing possibilities again, these days, though." He grinned impishly into his cup.

Mohinder blinked for a few seconds, until all of the names that had been mentioned in the brief time he had been there aligned themselves into a worrying order, and his eyes widened. "You cannot be serious."

Peter took a swallow. "Don't tell Noah. Claire wants to do that herself."

Mohinder rubbed his face. "I realise that I've been out of touch for a while, but not that long." He shook his head, incredulously. "At least I didn't think so."

Peter tilted his head. "Well, to be fair, he was trapped for five years right before the fall of the carnival."

"Yes! But with you! Not with Claire, and not with Matt and Janice Parkman!"

"He helps teaching Mattie to deal with his ability, so he's at an advantage there, and Claire…" He paused. "I guess they both needed someone."

Mohinder was still pondering the first part of that information. "Teaching? What do you mean he's teaching the boy?"

"Oh." Peter perked up. That was actually a really good opening to convince the scientist in Mohinder… "Matt and Janice were worried that Mattie could tap into a dangerous ability at some point, amplifying it without knowing he was doing it. So Gabriel helps him with that."

"How?"

"You don't know about Mattie's ability?"

Mohinder shook his head. "I thought it was mostly just based on his mood…"

"It was that when he was smaller," Peter agreed. "We figured out by now that he can see abilities as colours. Gabriel acquired the ability from him and now teaches him which colours are dangerous and which are safe." He grinned. "Mattie can try those out on Gabriel and me."

Peter had been right, the scientist in Mohinder couldn't possibly have resisted that. "That is…"

"Intriguing?" Peter smiled benignly.

Mohinder just nodded.

"You know… Gabriel would help you with your research if you asked him. He's as curious as you are."

Mohinder averted his eyes. He had known that. Had seen firsthand just what Sylar's unquenchable curiosity could do.

When he lifted his head to look at Peter again, he was met with a gaze full of understanding for Mohinder. It was also a gaze full of trust and affection for Gabriel. Feelings that he appeared certain Gabriel could induce again. Would induce in Mohinder.
"It… doesn't surprise me," he finally said, diplomatically.

"Which is why he's going back to College this fall with Claire."

Mohinder blinked. "College?"

Peter just shrugged. "Limitless time and funds and a brain that is made for understanding." He smirked. "He might as well make use of it."

Mohinder couldn't help but agree. From a subjective viewpoint, the situation appeared to be quite clear. After all, Peter did have insights nobody else could possibly ever gain. From a personal viewpoint… the memories were still haunting him.

"So," Peter declared, stopping Mohinder's train of thought and knocked back the rest of his coffee. "Ready to go out?"

Mohinder looked at the swimming shorts he was still holding in his hand and… nodded.

Peter led them through the area surrounding the outdoor pools, searching for familiar faces. The cheerful sounds from the water didn't help ease Mohinder's trepidation any, though.
Once Peter found a satisfying vantage point, he stopped and looked around.

"Stop worrying, already and trust me," he said when he saw Mohinder's eyes dart around nervously. "I trust him, Claire trusts him, Matt trusts him with his kid…" He sent Mohinder a pointed look. "And his therapist agrees that he's stable."

Mohinder startled. "Therapist?"

"Oh, right, I didn't mention that," he answered, still looking around and finally heading in another direction once he couldn't find anyone. "It's not because he might be dangerous," he assured the other man quickly. "It's because he really needed to learn to deal with what he did."

"And how does that work for him?" Mohinder asked, coldly, not convinced at all that Sylar deserved dealing with his atrocities.

"You should ask him sometime," Peter suggested, calmly. He turned to look at Mohinder face to face. "I know you hate Sylar, but you might surprise yourself with actually liking Gabriel." He held his gaze for a moment before walking off again, hearing the other man follow.

After another couple of minutes, Peter suddenly froze. "Oh…" he chuckled and rummaged in his bag for his camera. "Oh, this is too good." He put his finger to his lips to sign Mohinder to stay silent, before walking decisively towards his goal, again.

Mohinder followed his line of sight… and it took several heartbeats long for him to convince his feet to do the same after what he saw.

The three were under a tree in their swim wear (Mattie wearing swimming diapers). Gabriel was on his back, Claire by his side with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her, and Mattie on Gabriel's chest, held securely by the other arm. All of them were asleep.

Peter sneaked closer to take some pictures, the last one only a few metres from the sleeping group. Mohinder came to a standstill right behind him, staring wide-eyed.

"More blackmail material?" Gabriel asked without opening his eyes, making Peter chuckle again.

"Nope. Not blackmail. Bribery. You'll so want a copy of that."

Gabriel smirked and opened his eyes. He blinked when he noticed that Peter wasn't alone. "Hello, Mohinder."

Mohinder nodded, once. "Gabriel." Despite the picture that was presented to him and that couldn't possibly have been any more harmless, his voice was cold.

Gabriel didn't seem fazed and tilted his head down to look at his young charge sleeping on his torso. He smiled when the boy sighed in his sleep, but didn't wake just then.

"So, what brings you to our parts, doctor?" Gabriel asked.

Mohinder shook himself mentally out of his stupor. "I needed some time off."

"And some answers?" Peter asked, smirking. At Mohinder's caught look, he chuckled. "Come on, you wouldn't just drop by my place for a social call."

Mohinder's eyes flickered to Gabriel and back to Peter.

"And at my place," Peter continued, "you have two people who can acquire abilities."

Gabriel couldn't help but smirk and added, "And I've figured out a little something that might keep the scientist in you from trying to stare me to death right away."

Mohinder looked in equal parts worried and intrigued, and Peter snickered and let himself fall to the ground, sitting cross-legged next to the group.

"He can make them up," Peter said, looking up at Mohinder.

Mohinder blinked. "Make up what?"

"Abilities," Peter continued. "Well, I guess so far he only acquired some existing ones that he knew of, but he never had to meet any of the people carrying them." His eyes gleamed. "Based on abilities he has and understands, he can figure out how others should work and…" He snapped his fingers.

Gabriel snorted. "You make it sound like magic or something. It's not like that is a novelty. People create new theories based on existing facts all the time."

Mohinder on the other hand very much stared at Gabriel as if maybe the man could perform miraculous tasks. Finally, he had to give in and let himself flop down too.

"You… can…" he stuttered.

Before either Peter or Gabriel could answer the non-question, Claire interrupted them.

"Why am I awake?" she mumbled into Gabriel's neck. "I don't want to be awake."

Gabriel chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "We have a visitor."

"I heard, you guys were bragging again," she said, making the 'boys' chuckle. She turned her head and gave Mohinder a little wave. "Hey."

For her, Mohinder actually managed a smile and wave too. "Hello."

"Look who else is awake!" Gabriel said, returning the wide grin that was directed at him from the little boy on his chest.

Mattie, like most children of that age, went from asleep to awake in something like two seconds flat and already climbed off his makeshift, human bed and tried to run off for "more swim now!" as he declared.

"Nu-uh." Gabriel stopped him mid-skip, turned him around and made him skip back, to make it appear as if he was jumping himself, in case any on-lookers caught them.

Mattie squealed in delight and giggled when he came to a standstill right next to Gabriel.

Gabriel leaned closer conspiratorially. "Go find the cookie box," he whispered, pointing at the baby buggy.

Momentarily distracted from wanting to go swimming some more, Mattie raced to his buggy and started digging through the toys in the storage under the seat.

Peter cleared his throat. "Those wouldn't happen to be the cookies we ate two boxes of, yesterday…?"

Gabriel grinned, and Claire looked at them oddly.

"You guys ate two boxes of baby crackers?"

"Don't knock it till you tried it," Gabriel said, waving a finger at her and making her snort in amusement.

Mattie had by now apparently found his tea and held it up triumphantly, but not the cookies.

"The cookies are in the blue box, Mattie," Peter helped him.

After another moment, Mattie found the box, too. "Ultameen!" he said, brought the box to Gabriel and plopped down in his lap.

"That's right, Mattie," Gabriel agreed. "Ultramarine." He looked at Peter, mock-admonishingly. "Not just blue. Peter, what were you thinking?"

Peter flipped him off when he was sure Mattie wasn't looking. Claire laughed out loud, and Gabriel bit his lip. Even Mohinder couldn't hold back a twitch of lips.

Mattie looked at Gabriel expectantly, and Gabriel opened the box for him.

"You need to eat and drink a little first, then you can go swimming," he told the boy, not that Mattie complained with the cookies in front of him.

Claire sent him a look. "Aren't you supposed to wait after eating?"

"Not unless you pass out regularly after eating when you're trying to walk." Gabriel snorted. "No idea who came up with that wait-half-an-hour rule, but it's ridiculous. Maybe if you stuff yourself to the brink of throwing up and then jump in, it might be a bad idea, but only because you might throw up and not because you'd pass out in the water for whatever reason."

"Are you kidding me?" Claire asked. "My parents told me that all my life!"

Gabriel snickered. "Most parents do. Doesn't make it any less silly. Plus..." he kissed Mattie on the head, "... he'll wear his swimmies and won't be alone." He pondered that. "Swimming alone is actually a whole lot more dangerous. Parents should warn of that."

Claire still looked as if her world had effectively spun out of its axis and she was at the same time incredibly glad that it was over something silly like that for a change.

Gabriel nodded towards Peter and Mohinder. "Ask the medical crew there if you don't believe me."

Claire laughed and snatched a cookie out of the box. "I believe you." She took a bite and... "Okay, I believe you about the crackers, too."

Claire got a laugh and a kiss on cheek for that comment, the latter of which she answered with a small one on his lips that maybe didn't end quite as quickly as it should have.

"Hey!" Gabriel suddenly yelled, turning his head when Peter levitated the box of cookies out of his grasp and into his own hand. Mattie giggled and ran after it.

"You have to be on your guard," Peter told him, biting a cookie and handing one to Mohinder. "Tell you what," he told Gabriel, "Claire and I will take this little monster for his swim, and you can talk to Mohinder. Sound good?"

Mohinder made a strange face, but Peter didn't let him say anything and stopped whatever thought he might have had with, "You know you need to."

That may have been, Mohinder was sure, but... "You are having family afternoon, I don't want to impose..."

Gabriel gave him a weird look. "After all I've done, you're worried about spoiling my afternoon?" He snorted incredulously. "This is going to be easy."

Peter was putting the swimmies on Mattie and rolled his eyes. "Stop being so melodramatic."

Gabriel accepted that with a sour look. He was being melodramatic, but Mohinder worrying about a simple ruined afternoon was... He sighed.
When he looked up, Claire was standing next to him, bending down. She smiled, slowly leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Love you," she said, caressing his cheek.

He laid a hand on the back of her neck, not wanting the moment to end just now. "Love you too," he mouthed, before brushing his lips over hers again for a second.

Claire straightened. "Let's go," she said decisively, jerking her head to the side for Peter to follow her. Peter lifted Mattie to sit on his hip.

Mattie protested when he noticed that Gabriel wasn't about to get up too. "Gabiel come too!"

Gabriel smiled at him. "Oh, but it's Peter's turn now," he explained. "I'll watch from here." He pointed to the ground. "Right here. I'm not going away."

That seemed to mollify Mattie enough, and he demanded, "swim, swim, swim!" from Peter.

"Yes, swim, swim, swim," Peter agreed.

Gabriel looked after them, his head leaning against the tree.

Mohinder cleared his throat and kept his eyes on his feet. "I hear your therapy is going well..."

Gabriel turned his head and stared at Mohinder. "Is this really what you want to talk about?" he asked.

Mohinder fidgeted, never looking at Gabriel. He was angry, though he didn't even really know if he was angry at Gabriel or angry at himself. "Yes," he said, steadily. "That is, in the end, what matters, isn't it?"

"Mohinder, I killed-"

"I know!" Mohinder interrupted him, now sounding angry as well as looking it, dark eyes finally staring at Gabriel. "I am well aware of what you've done."

Gabriel lowered his eyes to his bent knees and slung his arms around his legs.

"It can't be changed," Mohinder said, his voice hard. "So now it is up to you to honour their memory and use their abilities for something good." He waited for Gabriel to look him in the eyes again. "You owe at least that to them."

Gabriel didn't answer.

"And I..." Mohinder sighed, averting his eyes, once more. "I hear that is what you are doing."

"I'm trying."

For a brief moment, Mohinder looked like he had swallowed sand. "I hear you do more than that," he forced himself to admit.

Gabriel couldn't hold back a small smile. His eyes roamed to the pool, watching his three companions. He knew that Mohinder probably wasn't talking about Gabriel teaching the boy; but to Gabriel, it was something he could use his powers for without feeling their possible dangers. And to Mattie, he was something else entirely than for everyone else. Even the people who had forgiven him had things they had to forgive him for. Mattie was different. He only knew Gabriel and loved him for who he was now, and Gabriel was glad for it.

"So, yes," Mohinder concluded firmly. "I guess the most important question is whether or not you're stable."

"Even if you don't like it?" Gabriel remembered well how Mohinder had wanted revenge, and he was sure that the thought hadn't completely left Mohinder's mind. Unfortunately for Mohinder – and for everyone else harbouring such plans – killing Gabriel was proving to be tricky nowadays.

Mohinder rubbed his face. "I had my chance at killing you. I didn't take it."

"I didn't let you take it."

Mohinder huffed in amusement. "You taunted me, and I fell for it. Maybe you were not meant to die."

"Maybe," Gabriel considered. This wasn't the first time someone told him that. He could have died so many times; yet, he never did. Something or someone always saved him. "My life is certainly worth living these days."

"So are you? Stable?"

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Yes." At Mohinder's sceptical look he elaborated. "I might have had doubts every now and then, even though I could feel that I was different, and that it wasn't the same as before when I tried to be... a good person." He swallowed. "And I did try, more than once." He looked steadily at Mohinder, deeply, not allowing him to avoid his stare. "I can understand my ability, now, and I trust Peter and Matt, and I trust Madeline," he listed the three people whom he trusted to keep a close and deep look at who he was beneath. "And more importantly, they trust me." He bit his lips. "And even if Matt and Peter didn't have the abilities to read my mind and my emotions, their trust means enough to me to not disappoint it." He sighed. "And Mattie... I don't want him to ever know me as anything other than what I am now. I don't ever want to be anything other than I am now."

When he finally stopped, Mohinder asked, "And Claire?"

"Claire..." He said the name as if it was his answer to impossible questions, his eyes on the pool, again. "Claire loves me despite of what I did, and she trusts me in spite of her own better judgement. If not for myself, then I was meant to live for her. To end her nightmare."

Mohinder was unsure as to what that nightmare was, but he could imagine that immortals shared the same fear. "To not be alone."

Gabriel nodded, smiling slightly when he saw Mattie splash happily around Claire in the water. "I don't know if I deserve this much happiness. I'm sure you would say that I don't, and you wouldn't be wrong." His eyes remained on Claire, his voice sounding as if the thoughts that formed the words came from another world before they could exit his lips. "But then again, I am loved, so maybe I do deserve it, after all." His head lolled to the side to look at Mohinder again. "They wouldn't love me if I didn't. Would they?"

Mohinder swallowed against the lump in his throat. "They wouldn't love you if they thought you didn't deserve it, no," he said, carefully avoiding his own opinion on the matter. He didn't know why he did that, it just seemed the right thing to do. Gabriel was in a position of power to do so much good, but he could have used that power to do as much evil just as easily.
It appeared as if Gabriel had chosen what to do with it... Who was Mohinder to judge the man now? Not to mention that he knew perfectly well what powers could do to a person.

"I believe," Mohinder started after a while, "that I am not in a position to judge."

"You have every right..." Gabriel interrupted.

"Yes," Mohinder interrupted in return. "I do have the right, but I am still not in a position to... rationally decide."

Gabriel smiled at him. "I guess you're the scientist in the end after all."

Mohinder snorted, and briefly wondered if he had performed his duty as a son. "In part." He found it was easier to find the words he needed to say when he avoided direct eye contact. Instead, his gaze fell on their friends in the water.
He huffed, ruefully. "I may have reasons to try and punish you for what you did, but by doing that, I would take from other people what you took from me." He shook his head. "I don't have that in me."

Gabriel's smile that had been slowly disappearing returned again, now. "And they save me again..."

"It's not like I could actually kill you, anyway." Mohinder smiled sardonically. "And if what you say is true, and you are of no danger, and it was your ability that made you into Sylar, then..." He was at loss for words.

"I am not asking your forgiveness, Mohinder. I will give you the same choice I have given everyone else. If you want my sincere apologies, you can have them. If you want me to stay the hell away from you, I will. If you ever need help with anything, I will help you if I can."

"Can you help others?" His father had probably been right. Mohinder had always been too emotional for a scientist.

Gabriel nodded towards the water. "Maybe help others with their powers to prevent things from going wrong?" He smiled. "I can do that."

Mohinder wondered if Gabriel even realised just how much he helped Claire and Peter as well. "You're good for them. Claire and Peter, I mean."

"That's mutual." And it very much was. Peter, who had believed that he would save Emma, had believed in him, for... no reason at all, other than the fact that it was what Peter did. He believed. And Claire, who had given him a chance, who understood, who was so very similar to him, who loved him, who stood by his side, even though...
"Noah is going to blow a casket." He sighed.

Mohinder snorted. "There was a time when that prospect would have amused you..."

Gabriel had to chuckle at that. "I guess it still does, in a way. But..." He turned his head to look at the other man. "I have the feeling that he'll do something stupid when he finds out. Something..." he tried to find the right words. "Something that will make Claire decide or just break her trust in him."

Mohinder didn't answer. He could easily imagine Noah reacting with something like that.

"Claire loves her dad," Gabriel added, "I don't want her to lose him. And, yes," he added, quickly, "there was a time when I would have welcomed that." He shook his head. "It kind of lost its appeal."

"Because you love her."

Gabriel sent him an accusing look. "Do you even believe that?"

Mohinder was quiet for a long time. "A part of me doesn't want to," he admitted. "Doesn't want to accept that you've changed."

The wording softened Gabriel's expression. Did another part do want to?

"But every telepath, empath or other Special who has access to some extra sensory information and knows you seems to just... be so certain of you." Mohinder shook his head, as if he couldn't quite process that. "Even Molly."

Ah. Molly he could explain. "She sees Micah a lot, and I kind of have an advantage on the Micah front." He grinned a bit. "I did get to be a little hero every now and again, back in the old days."

"Yes, but Molly saw what you can do, saw it firsthand even, and when she first mentioned you again to me after the fall of the carnival, I was startled how she just said," and then he added in a particularly off-handed way, "well, I can feel he's not the bogeyman, anymore, of course it's not the same."

Gabriel had to laugh.

"Like I'm an idiot to even think it." Mohinder smiled ruefully.

"She is awfully pragmatic for a little girl."

Mohinder felt a pang at the fond tone of voice, and it took him entirely too long to figure out why. "Do you see her often?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "More often than you."

Mohinder stayed silent for a long moment. "I'm not cut out for working like that. I need to see the people in my life." He sighed when his mind made the same turn it had before, unsurprisingly, given the company. "My father was right," he said out loud this time, "I am too emotional to be a scientist."

Gabriel burst out laughing. "He told you that?"

Mohinder startled, somewhat hurt, angry and indignant on his father's behalf. Gabriel's following words took the bite immediately off, though.

"Mohinder, that man was at least as emotional, even passionate, as you." The amusement faded into a gentle smile. "He was also terrified of losing you the way he lost your sister. He never wanted you to follow in his footsteps, because on the way to find a cure, you always have to find the disease, first."

Mohinder stared at him. Gabriel hadn't been lying, all that time ago. His father had confided in him. "He actually did like you," he blurted out.

Gabriel gave a half nod. "I was nothing if not curious and passionate, myself. Of course he liked me. For a while..." He snorted. "I'll leave it up to you to figure out why that changed."

Mohinder considered the man in front of him for a while. No, Gabriel didn't feel the same. He didn't sound the same. He appeared settled, content, balanced... almost serene. A man who had lost everything and then found even more. A man with the will to do good and with the power and mind to realise it.
A man with an eternity ahead of him and unafraid to face it.

And Mohinder could be part of that world of possibilities, all he had to do was take one step...

"What can you tell me about my sister?" Mohinder leaped.

TBC