A/N: In honor of "Heroes" premiere night I am posting another update and it's a little longer than usually I believe. Also, I am introducing two new characters! And another one is on the way. I'm a little nervous now with the show back up that I might lose some of my readers' interest and I hope that doesn't happen. My story will not be following the real season 2 because I started it (obviously) before I knew what was going to happen, so please do continue to read and enjoy it as my unique story!! Also, as always, review! Thanks.
MOHINDER SURESH
SEATTLE
"Dr. Suresh, we have given you access to all our research as well as our labs. You have free reign to the hospital!"
"Thank you, Dr. Baxtor." Mohinder shook hands with the chief at the private research hospital he had journeyed to in Seattle. He had been there for less than three hours and had already discovered two patients who had been checked in with symptoms similar to Molly.
"Where would you like to begin?" Dr. Baxtor asked.
"You have one patient whose symptoms are less advanced. I believe I would like to start with him." Mohinder flipped through the patient's file, which he had retrieved earlier. "Adam Monroe."
"Ah yes. He's a relatively new patient. I actually haven't had a chance to observe him yet, but have at it!"
"Thank you." Mohinder's mind started racing with excitement at the freedom he was given with the patients.
"I'll check up with you later." Dr. Baxtor nodded to Mohinder and left him to his business.
The moment he was alone, Mohinder headed towards Adam Monroe's room. He neared the door, his eyes busily scanning the patient's file, but as he prepared to enter the room he heard voices inside and pulled back, listening unintentionally.
"I told you I don't want to talk about it anymore." A man was saying.
"I don't care." A woman spoke now, emphatically, yet emotionally.
"This is the fifth hospital I've been to, Maddie!" The guy spoke again. "If they can't figure out what's wrong with me, then I'm giving up."
"No you're not!"
Mohinder decided that he had listened long enough. He knew exactly what he was listening to; his patient was losing hope. Mohinder wasn't ready to let him give up yet.
"Pardon me for intruding." Mohinder stepped into the room, taking notice of the two people there. "Mr. Adam Monroe, correct?" He addressed the young man lying in one of the two hospital beds in the room; the second bed was vacant.
"Yes." He frowned. "I haven't seen you here before."
"I'm new." Mohinder explained. "I'm a geneticist."
"What's that mean?" The young woman spoke up, attracting Mohinder's attention instantly.
"I…" He wasn't sure how to answer her. He thought his statement was clear. "I am a specialist in gene research."
She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind one ear and fixed her bright blue eyes on Mohinder, demanding further explanation.
"I have come here to research a virus that affects people with a particular genetic trait…one that your brother has." Mohinder tried to explain the details of his purpose without causing any unnecessary fear.
"Research?" Adam spoke up. "So, you're not here to help me then?"
"No, I am!" Mohinder insisted. "If I can. I must be honest; it's been a difficult process. I have, however, had success with one patient who suffered from the same disease."
"You have?" The intensity in the girl's eyes faded. "Do you think you might really be able to cure him?"
Mohinder glanced between the girl and the patient and nodded slowly. "I can't promise anything, but if you allow me to, I would like to try."
The girl's eyes were alive with hope. She looked to Adam, smiling slightly. "Adam, please…"
"I don't know." He cut her off quickly. "I told you that I didn't want to keep this up forever."
"But if…" She paused. "What's your name?"
"Dr. Suresh."
"If Dr. Suresh thinks he might be able to cure you, we have to let him try!"
Adam didn't respond.
"Please Adam!"
Mohinder noticed tears forming in her eyes and felt a little guilty for the problem he was causing between the two of them. "I'm sorry…perhaps I should give the two of you a moment alone."
Adam shook his head. "No, I need some time to think. I'll see you later Maddie."
Her eyes flicked towards him briefly, but she pretended not to let it bother her. "You're right. You should rest. I'll come check on you later tonight, okay?" She moved to kiss his forehead, but he pulled away from her.
Mohinder waited for her to leave the room and then decided to follow her. If there was anyone he would get through to, he was pretty sure it would be her. As expected, he only had to step outside the room door to find her waiting for him, eager to continue the conversation that Adam wasn't ready for.
"Dr. Suresh, I'll talk to him and he'll come around. Please, you have to try and help him!"
"I can't promise you anything though…" Mohinder was feeling a little guilty for getting the girl's hopes up too high.
"I know." She nodded. "You don't understand how much we've been through though. This is the fifth hospital that we've tried. If you can't help him, he won't look for help again." The tears she had been fighting a moment ago now spilled down her cheeks. "I can't lose him! He's all I have."
"I'm sorry…" He had been trying to figure out the relationship between the two and decided to take a guess. "He's your…husband?"
She shook her head quickly. "No! Adam's my brother and he's the only family I have."
"Your brother?" Mohinder repeated. "I'm so sorry." He didn't know why he was apologizing, but it felt like the right gesture.
"Thanks." She wiped away her escaping tears with the back of her hand. "So, you'll help him, right?"
"I will do my absolute best." He assured her. "You have my word."
"Thank you." She smiled. "I'm Madeline, by the way. Madeline Monroe."
NIKI & MICAH
NEW YORK
"How may more?"
"This is the last one baby, I promise." Niki squeezed her son's hand twice to reassure him. She looked down at him and noticed his feet dragging slightly. She stopped on the sidewalk and knelt beside him, fixing her gaze on his. "You have been so good today! I really appreciate how helpful and patient you're being with all this. Tomorrow is your day. You can plan it all, okay?"
Micah's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Really." She promised. "Anything you want."
"Awesome." He smiled as they picked up their pace again, heading to the last apartment Niki had on her list.
"Well, it doesn't look so bad on the outside." Niki commented optimistically as she and Micah started up the short flight of steps outside the type apartment. "I like the brick."
Micah made a small noise that sounded like a mix of a laugh and a grunt, but said nothing.
"What?" Niki picked up instantly on his meaning. "You don't like it?"
"No, it's great." He tried to sound enthusiastic, but it was getting difficult after having to fake admiration for half a dozen different run-down apartments so far that day.
"I know they're not much…" Her voice wavered. She hated not being able to give her son the absolute best, but since she and DL were both without steady incomes, their options were limited. "Once I find a good job, maybe we can look for something better."
"I don't see why I can't just…"
"No." Niki cut him off quickly. "We've been over this, Micah."
"I know, but I still don't understand…"
"Micah!" She rarely snapped at her son, but she was having a hard time with this issue. Glancing around to make sure no one walking past would overhear them, she knelt beside him once again. "We are not going to use our powers unless absolutely necessary."
"Why?"
Niki sighed. She knew it wasn't fair to him. He thought that what they all could do was amazing, like a superhero. She didn't feel the same about it though, not after what Linderman put them all through because of their abilities. How could she make him understand that though?
"Because we're trying to start over here, baby." She lowered her voice. "It's been a hard year for us, but we're all back together now and I want us to live the life that we've always wanted. Don't you want that? Don't you want to be a happy family?"
"Of course I do!" He agreed quickly.
"In order to have a normal, happy life we need to try not to use our abilities. Can you try to understand that?"
He nodded slowly. "I guess."
"Thank you!" She kissed his forehead. "I knew you could. You're such a smart little man!" Micah fixed his eyes on his shoes as his mom stood again and faced the door of their potential apartment. "Now, let's get this over with!"
PETER & CLAIRE
PETER'S APARTMENT
"Sleep well?" Peter glanced up from the kitchen table as Claire wandered in, pulling a sweatshirt on over her head.
"Not really."
"I didn't think so," he pushed out a chair for her. "I heard you walking around in the middle of the night."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"I wasn't sleeping either."
"Oh? Why not?" Claire reached across the table to steal a sip of his orange juice.
"My mind just had a lot going on."
"I hope you're not referring to mind reading…"
"No, just thinking things through." He assured her. "There's so much to think about after everything that's happened. I know there are some days when we'd rather just pretend like none of it happened and try to carry on a normal life, but we both know that's not possible."
"Wow, you're just a big bundle of joy in the morning, aren't you?" Claire rolled her eyes as he snatched his glass of juice away from her.
"So what kept you up all night?" Peter turned the question around.
"Oh you know, just thinking things through." She stood from the table and started browsing through the cupboards for breakfast.
"Yea?" Peter watched her for a minute before speaking his mind. "You know, I'm surprised you wanted to come back here."
"Really? I kind of thought it was obvious that I was uncomfortable there." She located the box of peanut butter captain crunch she had been searching for and moved on to retrieve a bowl. "Not to mention how uncomfortable they were."
"I don't think they were…"
"Peter, I could tell. They're not ready for me to move in, especially not Heidi. It's going to take a while for us all to get use to everything."
"Nathan does want you in his life Claire, you have to know that." Peter insisted, holding up the milk to let her know that he already had it out of the fridge.
"I know he does." Claire agreed, returning to the table with her breakfast conquests. "It's Heidi I'm mainly worried about. She didn't seem to eager to welcome a daughter."
"Well, you said it yourself. It will take time, but I'm pretty confident that it will work out."
"Yea…until then though is it okay for me to be here?"
"Of course."
"I mean, really, if you want me to leave I can! I've already been intruding a lot longer than I meant to…"
"Claire, seriously, I love having you here. It's not a problem at all!"
"Thanks," Claire switched her attention to the bedroom where she could hear Molly calling out. "I'll go check on her. It's probably another nightmare."
"Want me to come with?"
"No, sometimes she's a little nervous when she wakes up. It's probably best if we don't crowd her." Claire stood and headed toward the bedroom.
"Let me know if you need me."
Claire pushed open the bedroom door and found Molly huddled beneath the duvet cover, trembling uncontrollably.
"Sweetheart, it's okay!" Claire sat on the bed and pulled the covers away from the girl's head. "You're okay…it was just a bad dream." She wrapped her arms around Molly and held her close, continuing to croon. "It's okay."
Molly clung to Claire's neck, sobbing into her shoulder. "I couldn't get out!"
"You couldn't get out of where?" Claire asked as she soothingly stroked her hand through Molly's tangled hair.
"He wouldn't let me go," she continued to cry.
"Sweetie, it's okay…you're okay now." Claire didn't know how to comfort her any better. "There's nobody else here. You're safe."
"It's getting worse." Molly whimpered, barely above a whisper.
"You mean the nightmares?" Claire asked. "About the bad man?"
"They're not nightmares." Molly insisted. "It's him. He creates them! He traps me…and I can't get out…"
Claire hated seeing the girl so miserable. She wished there was a way she could make it better. "He can't hurt you while you're asleep. The things you see when you sleep aren't real."
"It feels so real." Molly insisted.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Claire offered, still slowly massaging the girl's head. "Maybe if you tell me what you saw it won't feel so scary. We can talk about it together and then you don't have to be afraid all by yourself anymore."
Molly leaned back slowly, letting Claire wipe away her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
"Do you want to talk?"
She nodded, "okay."
"How about I have Peter make us some hot chocolate? Would you like that?" Molly nodded again and Claire slid off the bed. "I'll be right back." She opened the door, still looking at Molly, and crashed into Peter who had been standing just on the other side of the door. "Were you eavesdropping?"
"No…" Peter paused. "Yes…well, I have to find things out somehow and you two never include me in your conversations!"
Claire glanced back at Molly who was still trying to get her crying under control. "It's not that we don't want to include you, it's just that I'm not sure Molly's ready to talk about it…"
Molly sniffed and nodded. "It's okay Claire. He should know too."
Peter looked slightly surprised, but delighted nonetheless. "Good. Then I'll get hot chocolate for the three of us and we can talk it out."