InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I have an itch."

persuader (persuader) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2009-12-01 15:46:00

Entry tags:

!closed

WHO: Eden McCain & Mohinder Suresh
WHAT: They finally get the chance to talk about things.
WHERE: Apartment #403D
WHEN: December 1st
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

Eden had never thought she would actually get the chance to explain what she'd done to Mohinder and why. The second that Sylar had pulled her through the glass, she'd known that any chance she'd had of getting out of the situation alive was forfeit. In the end, she'd chosen to take her way out instead of allowing him the victory that he wanted. Now, though, she had a second chance, and she was going to make sure that she did this right this time. Stepping into the building, Eden hesitated for a moment at the bottom of the stairs. With as much time as had passed, he had likely found out the truth. And while he hadn't seemed as though he was upset with her...it would mean explaining why she was in the position that she had been in. And that...

Well, that could lead to him looking at her differently.

It took several minutes before Eden finally gripped the railing and headed up the stairs to the fourth floor, lingering in between the two apartments that were side by side. It took another moment for her to work up the courage to knock, smiling lightly as she waited for the answer.

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potentiality
2009-12-01 10:32 pm UTC (link)

Mohinder felt a strange sort of uneasiness at the idea of seeing Eden again. Sarah. Whoever she really was. It was a kind of nervous anticipation that settled in his stomach and made him feel like a teenager again, overwhelmed and entirely out of his element. He almost changed his mind, but he couldn't do that. The fact was that he wanted to see her again. In spite of everything, in spite of knowing that she'd lied to him, that everything might have been a lie, he had cared about her and he'd missed her.

Molly wouldn't be home from school for a little while yet, so at least they would be able to talk alone. He knew that, if she had been home, Elle would have been happy to watch her, but he didn't feel right sending his daughter away for this. Still, it was a discussion better had alone.

He heard the knock and made his way to answer it, the sight of her like a punch to the gut. She looked exactly as she had when he had last seen her, and it surprised him, even though it shouldn't have. "Eden," he said softly. He paused a moment. "Or is it Sarah?" It wasn't accusing, he just wanted to know which was right.

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persuader
2009-12-01 11:10 pm UTC (link)

The question hit a little harder than she was sure Mohinder meant it to, her expression falling for a moment as her eyes dropped away from his. Biting her inner cheek, Eden only looked up at him after almost a minute had passed, able to struggle the guilt and shame back down into herself. "Eden," She said, reaching out vaguely and settling a hand on his arm. He really was real. "I haven't been Sarah in a very long time."

Looking up at Mohinder with a very lightly smile, she reached up, settling her hand lightly on his cheek as a quiet amusement crossed her face, "When was the last time that you shaved?" She asked, a hint of teasing in her voice. "You have been sleeping, right?"

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potentiality
2009-12-01 11:13 pm UTC (link)

"Eden then," he said after a moment. He preferred that name, in any case. He knew Eden, whereas Sarah was some distant spectre. He honestly hadn't meant to upset her. Then one hand was on his arm, the other against his cheek, and he had to fight not to lean into the touch, the proof that this was real and she was here. He really had missed her, in spite of everything.

"Is that a complaint?" he asked her with a small but amused grin, falling easily back into old habits, easier than he had thought possible. He reached up, brushing her hair behind her ear with a fond sort of smile. "I sleep enough. Would you like some tea?" Not really stalling, but sort of.

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persuader
2009-12-01 11:31 pm UTC (link)

"Hardly a complaint," Eden said, relaxing at the familiarity, feeling much more at ease even though she knew what sort of explanation lay ahead of her. The offer, however, was certainly welcomed. Once she got going, she would need something to calm her nerves so that she could fully explain and not just leave it spotty and confusing.

"An hour here and there slummed over your work doesn't count as enough, Mohinder, not even in the mind of an insomniac, and I'm not going to say no to a cup," She said, squeezing his arm before stepping back slightly, taking a deep breath. "We do have a lot to talk about."

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potentiality
2009-12-02 02:23 am UTC (link)

"I am better about sleeping than I used to be," Mohinder assured Eden. And he was. He couldn't live the way he used to, not with a daughter to take care of, he knew that much. "I'm teaching these days, at the university here...so not as much slumping over my work...unless there are essays or exams to grade." He shrugged. "Besides, Molly glares when I don't go to sleep at a reasonable hour, in a bed."

He smiled and poured two cups of tea and handed one to Eden. "We really do," he agreed. "Please, have a seat." He glanced at his watch briefly. "Molly will back from school soon, so you can have a chance to meet her, but we have plenty of time to talk before you're accosted by an enthusiastic fifth-grader."

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persuader
2009-12-02 09:15 pm UTC (link)

Fifth-grader? Why in the world would she be accosted by a... Wait. Molly? Eden blinked a few times before tilting her head to the side in curiosity. "Molly...Walker?" She asked, furrowing her brow. She remembered when the girl had been brought into the Company, another of Sylar's victims & sick on top of all of that. Thompson had called her an asset. Sometimes she really wondered why she had stuck around as long as she had.

Sitting as she was told, though, Eden smiled as she took a sip of her tea and looked up at Mohinder. "I'm used to being accosted. And I hardly mind when it's positive," She said, taking another sip of her tea before her expression softened as she looked over at him. "I was going to tell you," Eden said quietly. "As soon as I'd taken care of Sylar... I was going to tell you the truth."

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potentiality
2009-12-07 10:28 pm UTC (link)

He almost asked how Eden knew about Molly, before remembering that she had been with the Company. Instead he just nodded. "Yes," he said. "Thompson asked me to help cure her of the virus that she had, and I ended up adopting her after all was said and done." He smiled softly. "She is a wonderful girl, she really is," he told her. "I'm sure the two of you will get along quite well." He hoped so anyway. At the very least, he missed Eden's friendship, and hoped that she would be around to talk to.

He laughed quietly, taking a sip of his own tea. "As opposed to when it's a dubious telephone repairman?" he asked, remembering that encounter. Even knowing that it had probably been a ploy to get him to trust her, he still thought back on it fondly. He looked down at his tea and nodded as she spoke again. "I know that you were," he said. "You told me as much. I missed you...even knowing that you had been lying to me, that didn't change. I just need to know how much of it was real." Had she actually cared about him?

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persuader
2009-12-15 01:58 pm UTC (link)

"They picked me up in Los Angeles," Eden said, sipping her tea with a soft, thoughtful expression on her face. "I'd stolen a car. I'm sure you've seen the rap sheet by now, if you know my real name. I'd stolen a car and had just finished telling some...pathetic annoying stereotype of a cop to waddle on off and have himself a donut binge when this...man just appeared out of nowhere and... Well, I honestly don't remember what happened. I just know that one minute I was in LA, and the next, I was in Texas in some holding cell with my hands tied behind my back and tape over my mouth," She said, shaking her head slowly.

"I wasn't really sure what to think, at first. They helped me, gave me more control over my ability in a span of a few months than I'd managed to get in nearly ten years, and then they sent me to talk to your father. I'd been a con artist for years. I was just doing it legitimately now. They set me up in the apartment next to his, gave me a cover as a clerk at a used bookstore, told me that I was supposed to do everything possible to gain his trust so that I could get at his list," Eden sighed, taking another sip of her tea. "Only... He was killed before I could get it. And when you showed up, they just told me to keep doing what I was doing."

"Only, the problem was that it's really hard to con people when you start to care about them," Eden said, looking up at Mohinder before gently setting her teacup down. "I'd never been the type to get close during jobs. It was always in, a quick manipulation, and right back out again. And by the end of it, that was what Noah wanted me to do to you. To get you to stay. But I couldn't... You had to do what you had to do. And I cared too much about you to stand in your way. Much less to force you to do something that you'd ultimately decide you had to do for yourself."

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