Disclaimer: I only own Laira and my plot. However I do wish I owned Mohinder for very X-rated reasons.

A/N: Ok, so after that rather dark chapter….. ya. Anyways, I have some of the romance in this chapter planned out but the whole romance is not going to be without it's complications (what can I say, I like complications when it comes to love because there is no love without it). So without further ado, I give you chapter six!

Unnatural Fire

Chapter Six

Guilt

He stared at me, his eyes widening and color draining slightly from his tanned face.

"Come in." I practically ran into his apartment, all tears and confusion. A thousand thoughts were racing through my head, a thousand images, a thousand screams. I sank onto the couch, head in hands. It was only when my right hand came back covered in blood did I realize I was bleeding from the head. Mohinder sat down beside me, looking oddly calm but a little shaky. "What happened? It was Sylar wasn't it?"

"Ya." I replied, in no more then a whisper. "It was Sylar. I had just gone up to make some coffee and when I came back I saw him talking to Issac and then…….." I swallowed hard, trying to force the vomit down at the memory. "He…….oh God……" I took a deep breath and then ran to the bathroom. Kneeling over the toilet I discarded the remains of my breakfast with a horrible retch. I was shaking as I rested my head in my hands, flushing the toilet. Mohinder knocked on the door.

"Laira……. Are you alright?" His voice was laced with concern and it made me feel a little better.

"Fine." I replied hoarsely as I stood up and rinsed my mouth before I looked in the mirror. I was horrified at my appearance. Dried blood ran down the right side of my face from the small cut in my head where Sylar had tried to scalp me, and my right arm was covered in blood as well from a fairly deep cut in my right arm. I decided I would deal with my appearance later. I opened the door to be met with his brown eyes.

"Here." He wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders and then lead me back to the couch as I tried to stop the trembling in my limbs. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to easily. "If you don't want to continue……" I shook my head.

"I'm fine." I said firmly. "I'm fine….." I didn't know if I was trying to convince him or myself.

"You're not fine!" He exclaimed. "For heaven's sakes, Laira! You were almost killed!"

"Better then Issac." I muttered, the tears starting again. Mohinder went silent. "I didn't see the rest all I could hear was the screaming………I was scared I didn't know what to do so I tried to get away but…. he found me." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "He found me and I tried to fight him with my power but I couldn't….. not until……" I trailed off, nervously running my hand over the mark on my head.

"Until…?" Mohinder asked, gently encouraging me to continue.

"Until he tried to slice my head open. After that I just………snapped, I dunno. He went up in flames and I ran here." There was a heavy silence as Mohinder assessed everything that I had told him. And I was suddenly very drained.

"Is he dead?"

"I doubt it." I answered honestly. "He's gone up against and killed a lot of people a lot stronger then me." Mohinder nodded in agreement. I wasn't that special, in all honesty. As much as I liked my little power it really wasn't good for much except never needing a lighter again and boiling water. "Face it, I'm nothing compared to him, none of us are. We're all dead."

"Don't say that!" Mohinder exclaimed, eyes widening at my brutal honesty.

"Sorry." I said, my eyes almost shutting.

"Laira……your arm." I looked down, a small trail of blood trickling between the cracks of dried blood.

"Shit." I cussed, holding my hand over it. "Mohinder……. can I use your shower?"

"By all means." He said, pointing towards it.

"Thanks." As I walked into the bathroom I realized something. I was too calm, far too calm for everything that had just happened but I figured that maybe it was my mind's way of keeping itself sane. I stripped out of my clothes, my shirt soaked with blood from my arm, and stepped under the shower. The warm water stung by I found a strange comfort in it. At least I was a alive to feel the water stinging.

Blood swirled with the water and went down the drain as I scrubbed myself down. And then I found my mind wandering into places that I didn't want it to go. The sound of Issac's screaming still pounded in my head and the image of his dead, crucified and scalped body, his painting covered in his own blood.

And I knew somewhere in my heart that I could have saved him if I really wanted to. I had gotten out, hadn't I? There was no reason besides the fact that I was a coward that Issac was nothing more then a corpse. And then before I knew it a scream had torn from my throat and my hand had hit the shower wall. Pain seared through my hand and wrist but it was a little bit of a comfort, a little rush of something.

But I couldn't stop there. The screams turned into tears as I sank onto the ground, knees drawn up against my chest like a child as I cried, the tears mixing with the water. Issac…… he had been probably one of my closet friends for the better part of three months…….. the person who first accepted me and gave me clues as to who I was……. Issac, sweet tempered Issac with his longish hair and glowing eyes……

My head was in my hands as grief washed over me like a tidal wave that I thought could drown me. I wanted to make it go away somehow but I couldn't except to cry until I felt numb and the shower had long gone cold, not that I felt it. I mean, my body was pretty much a heater. I could probably walk outside naked in winter and not be cold.

Finally, I was able to get up and turn off the water and step out of the shower, steam coming from me as the water evaporated. I still grabbed a towel, though more out of habit then actual need. My hair was long, hanging around my face and sticking to my arms. I opened the door, feeling self-conscious as I stood there in nothing but a towel.

"Uh, Mohinder….." I hear some walking and then he appeared in front of me, seeming to be a little confused as to why I was standing there practically naked. "About clothes…."

"Of course, I'm sorry." He said, looking like he just realized something. "Of course you wouldn't have brought anything, one minute." He disappeared and then re-appeared holding out a plain T-shirt and pajama bottoms. "They might be a little long on you……."

"You think?" I said, grinning a little even though I didn't really feel it. "You're like, what, 6 foot?" He nodded. "Thought so. I'm only 5'4, these are going to be swimming on me. But thank you." I ducked back into the bathroom and threw the clothes on, mentally noting that I could live in these clothes.

I opened the door and then went to sit in the living room beside Mohinder who was reading a book. Something scientific which he put down when I approached.

"You look better." He said and I smiled, sitting down beside him. "But still……. one moment." He left and then came back with a cloth bandage. "Here, let me take a look at you." He grabbed my arm and examined the cut. It was fairly deep and I knew that I was going to have a permanent scar after it healed. "Well, the good news is I think you'll live." He smiled reassuringly as he cut a piece of the cloth and took out some herb from a small container, laying it over my wound before wrapping it with the cloth and tying it with almost perfect precision. "There you go."

"Thanks." I said as he got up and examined my head. "What was that?"

"Peppermint." He replied as he gentle fingers traced the cut. "It's known for it's healing properties. It won't prevent the scaring though, unfortunately. Your skull's been severed, but not deeply. It looked like you stopped him before he could do any real damage." He sat back down beside me and handed me a cup of hot Chai, which I drank eagerly.

"Thank-you, Mohinder." I said, meaning it with everything I had. "I mean……. to be honest, I'm terrified to be on my own right now. I've seen and felt what he can do, and……" My voice trailed off. I knew I wouldn't be able to continue without the waterworks starting so I just went quiet. I was sick of crying to be honest.

"You're welcome, Laira." He replied, brown eyes boring into me. "You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you like…… I don't imagine you'd ever want to go to the loft again."

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I don't. I never even want to think about it again….I just……. want everything to go away. I want Issac to be alive and painting again….." A single tear escaped my eye lid and then suddenly I could feel arms around me, pulling me in. I hugged Mohinder back, inhaling the smell of spices and something undeniably exotic. I liked the smell. It made me think of lush jungles and blazing suns. We stayed that way for a long time, in mutual silence, but a good silence. And then finally we broke away and I stared into the tea cup to avoid his eyes. I don't know why I couldn't look at him.

The TV drowned something insignificant and I finally found the guts to look at him. His black hair was curling around his ears, the ever-present stubble on his chin, but it was his eyes that captivated me the most. Big brown eyes that reminded me of a little puppy dog but held a sweet meekness to them and hidden fire.

"I should……" I just stood up and walked into the bathroom. I knew he must have thought I was nuts. Hell, I thought I was nuts. But then again, I was terrified of everything. Even as I stood face to face with myself in the mirror I was half-expecting Sylar to come jumping out from behind the shower curtain with a machete. Some dark part of me hoped he would because I had failed Issac. I wanted to tell Mohinder how I felt but I knew what he would say.

He would say that I did what anyone would have done in my situation, that I was terrified and that there was nothing I could have done. But I didn't want to hear that. I wanted to hear the truth. I wanted someone to tell me that I could have saved Issac and chose not to because I was selfish.

"Issac………I'm so sorry." The words were barely audible as I whispered to myself, staring into my own emerald eyes. "I'm so sorry…….." That was the last thing I remembered before my eyes closed and everything went black.

I awoke in a bed I didn't recognize and my first reaction was that I had crashed at Issac's place. And then the truth washed over me like a black curtain and my chest felt heavy. The room was dark and I couldn't see anything.

"Mohinder?" My voice was small, tired, but apparently enough to make him hear me. The door opened, the light went on, and he was standing in the doorway.

"You're up." He was smiling at me and then sat on the bed. "I was worried for a moment there. You passed out in the bathroom."

"I did?" I asked, confused. But then again, it did make sense. The last thing I remembered was something about me talking to myself in the mirror and then the next thing, I was in Mohinder's bed.

"Yes." He answered. "Exhaustion I think, or trauma. One of the two." His eyes stopped on my hands, and I followed them and found myself gazing at the bruises which lined the sides of them from my shower beating. "Where'd those come from?"

"I don't know." I answered, fully aware that I was lying but I just didn't want to explain why I had felt the need to injure myself. He eyes searched me for a moment, as if sensing that I was lying but decided to let it go. I was immensely grateful.

"You should get some more rest." He said, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the forehead as if he was putting a small child to bed. Then again, he was nine years my senior. "I'll be on the couch if you need me." He left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving me once again in the suppressing darkness. It made me uneasy but I tried to argue with myself that I was just being childish. I was 21 years old, I think I was old enough to be in the dark by myself.

I just didn't want to.

I walked through the doors to the studio, screaming as I saw Issac's body, Sylar standing above it. He turned to look at me, eyes wild, hungry, murderous.

"Hello Laira." He said, conversationally before looking down at Issac's brainless body. "oh, sorry about your friend he had something I…required." He took a step near me and I backed away, but I backed into a wall which nothing for my escape plan.

"Get away!"

"You know you could have saved him, Laira." He said, tauntingly, teasingly. "All you would have had to do was send a little heat my way and you both could have gotten the hell out of here with your head's intact. And now look what you've done." I turned to look at Issac who's eyes were suddenly open and moving, even though his brain had been removed. "It would have been so simple for you……."

"No!" I shouted, tears falling down my cheeks. "No……… I'm sorry, Issac. I'm so sorry!" An invisible force and then I was pinned against a wall. Sylar's index finger raised and I could feel nothing but pain as my skull was cleaved open.

"Laira!" I was screaming and pounding my fists as I could feel someone holding me back.

"Get away from me!" I screamed, thrashing as I remained half-awake and half-asleep. "Get away from me! I'm sorry Issac……. I'm sorry!"

"Laira, wake up, it's me!" A smooth accent and finally my eyes opened being greeted with Mohinder's concerned face. Feeling like a child I burst into tears and held onto him as if my life depended on it.

"I could have saved him." I sobbed, tears splashing onto his shirt. "I could have saved him……"

"Laira, what are you talking about?" I just shook my head. I didn't want to explain. It was bad enough I knew. But somehow I ended up explaining anyway.

"Issac!" I exclaimed, memories of the dream still vivid in my head. "I could have saved Issac! I mean, I got away, right? I could have done the same for him……. I'm stupid…. I'm so stupid!" His arms were around me as he gently patted my back, trying to comfort me as I pretty much had a mental breakdown.

"No, Laira. It wasn't your fault…… it wasn't your fault." I inhaled. The smell of clove mixed with cinnamon clung to him. "You can't blame yourself……." I pulled away and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I could have saved him. I know I could have." My voice was weak and cracked. "I saved myself, but I didn't save Issac…….. does that make me a bad person?"

"No, of course not. Laira, it's a miracle you even survived." His voice was meek, soothing. "You can't blame yourself for another person's fate." I don't know why I did what I did what I did next. Confusion, my altered state of mind, my need for someone. All of them are good excuses but they I would be lying to say that I didn't want it.

My hands were on the side of his face as I stared into his eyes. They were so pretty, like chocolate pits that I could fall into forever if I only had the courage. And then my lips were on his as my arms locked around his neck. He was surprised but kissed me back gently as his hand swept my hair back from my face. We broke apart and I stared into him, not knowing what to do. It seemed I barely knew what to do about anything anymore.

There was a long moment in which neither of us said anything and I found myself regretting it. I hated it when things were awkward, like now for instance. I couldn't look at him so I kept my gaze resolutely away until he was the first the reply and breaking the thick silence.

"Goodnight, Laira." He turned to get up but I stopped him by resting my hand on his arm.

"Please…….." My voice was small, docile. "Please….. don't leave me." I couldn't look into his eyes, but from shame or fear was anyone's guess. It was true that I trusted Mohinder, I was just afraid of him because he was a man who was attractive and I feared him having power over me. I had a history of nightmare relationships.

"Come here." He said gently as he laid down beside me. "It's alright, lay with me." I was suddenly very nervous. There was nothing intentionally sexual about it, but I could still feel the tension although I had it a feeling it was one-sided. I rolled to face him, burying my head in his chest and inhaling the now familiar scent of spice. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent, letting it calm me.

For that night, at least, the dreams stopped.

A/N:

I'm not entirely sure if I like the chapter. I dunno there's some parts of it that just bug me, but then again a lot of things have bugged me today so it might just be me. Anyways as always, please review and let me know what you think!