Who: Peter & Hiro What: Telling the truth Where: Hyperion, then seashore When: BACKDATED; before the Silence, during the Truth Rating: PG Status: log; COMPLETE!
Truth. All of this honesty after so many years of subversion and lies was unbalancing. Hiro had kept his mouth mostly shut for now, but there was only so long that it could be avoided until he was faced with a situation where he was placed into the position that he would have to say things that he really would rather keep to himself. If he was going to have to be placed in that situation, he might as well get something out of it as well. So, Hiro Nakamura had endeavored to seek out his best friend and not take no for an answer to any of his questions. There were some things that were still festering and lingering in the back of his mind that he really, really needed cleared up.
When he spotted Peter in the lobby of the Hyperion, Hiro crossed over to him, settling his hand firmly on Peter's shoulder before giving him a gentle tug to get his attention. "Why did you leave?" Were the words out of Hiro's mouth as soon as he had gotten Peter's attention. It probably wasn't fair, ambushing him with that question in this situation. But Hiro needed to know.
Peter blinked. His mouth opened, ready to give the answer, but he closed it sharply in a moment of clarity. Taking a step back from Hiro, he shook his head.
"This isn't fair, Hiro. You should know it's not fair."
He expected someone would try to take advantage of this truth-telling condition, and had been trying to be selective in his responses, but he'd been outright avoiding Hiro. If anyone could get a direct answer from Peter, it was his best friend.
"I know it's not fair, Peter, but at this point, I really don't care," Hiro said with a heavy scowl. "You were gone a whole fucking year without any sort of decent explanation was to why other than 'I have to'. As much as I accepted and respected it, Peter, I didn't understand it. And you have no idea how much it hurt."
Peter flinched at that. Actually flinched, as the words had stung more than a slap to the face. "I didn't want to hurt you. I never did. But it was the only way."
He looked away for a moment, trying to fight against his vocal chords. And failing. "I had to stop," he said, slowly, trying to catch the words as they left his lips, trying to mold them into something still true, but that didn't give away the secrets he needed to keep hidden.
"Had to stop what? Stop believe? Stop thinking that things could be better?" Hiro's questions were half sarcastic and half sincere, an old bitterness lingering in the back of his throat as he blinked back old tears, keeping his face as impassive as he could manage with the emotions that he was attempting to repress. "Give up on any hope that we weren't doomed to die and just leave me alone to get killed by Parkman and his bastard squad all by myself?"
"Goddamnit, Hiro, it was killing me!" Peter's voice rose, still tense, but now without the careful control he'd been trying to maintain. His shoulders slumped as he realized he'd lost. "It was killing me," he repeated, his voice softer. "The war, the fight. Every time I stopped to breathe, I had to wonder if we were any better than them."
He turned his head, not wanting to look at his friend, not wanting to see if Hiro took this wrong. "I barely knew who I was anymore. That man, that kid named Peter Petrelli. The one who wanted to save the world. He was gone. He was gone, and I was dying. I didn't know what would be left. I didn't know who would be left."
His gaze intent and unwavering for a long moment, the impassive mask cracked as Hiro's head lowered and his hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose as his eyes closed, "Why didn't you just tell me that, Peter? Do you have any idea what I thought? What with you giving her so much more attention than... After we took down that facility and she tagged along, I became like... It like I wasn't even there half the time. And the way you just decided to stay with her with very little more than an on your bike. What the fuck was I supposed to think?"
"Niki never needed me," Peter said, still unable to turn back to Hiro. "It was... Refreshing. With everything that was going on, with the DHS, and the Underground, there was someone that didn't need me there."
Damn this truth affliction. DAMN Hiro for taking advantage of it.
"I wanted you to hate me. I wanted you to be furious, to be hurt." That hurt to say. It hurt to admit.
Great. He'd been abandoned for someone who hadn't really needed Peter. That was a real confidence booster. But as much as the bitterness was still effecting his emotions, he wasn't about to lash out at Peter again. Not with him in this state. "Well, you succeeded," Hiro said simply, his voice slightly dull. "I did hate you. For about four hours. And I was absolutely furious for weeks after that. But I can't say that the intensity lasted after that. It just...festered in bitterness and confusion for the rest of the year. I don't think the rage returned until after Niki basically told me to fuck off when I came to talk to you when the other me showed up."
Peter sighed softly. "Niki didn't like you, because she knew that if the choice had been as simple as her or you, I would have chosen you. She might not have needed me, but she still wanted me there."
He finally looked at Hiro, the set in his jaw still stubbornly trying to hold back his words. "I knew you'd find out the truth sooner or later. You were getting so close. The truth about the bomb. And I thought it would be easier for you if you hated me. It's always harder to kill a friend."
"Peter..." Hiro said quietly, frowning over at his best friend before stepping forward and settling a hand lightly on the other man's shoulder, squeezing lightly in an attempt to be reassuring. "I couldn't have hated you, not enough to kill you. I might have been punished into a situation where I'd threaten to, but I never would have been able to go through with it. There are better ways to go about things than killing people. As long as there's another way, killing someone is always the last option."
"And if you had to?" Peter asked, rounding back on his friend. "If it came down to the last option? I'd rather have died, Hiro. I'd rather be dead than let that happen. I guess I went about it wrong, but I can't change that." He let out his breath. "But if you ever needed my help, if you really needed me, I would have been there. I hope you know that."
"If I had had to, Peter, I would have," Hiro said as he took another step forward and pulled his best friend into a tight embrace. "But they figured out a way to stop it without anyone dying, Peter. Nathan's still alive. Heidi's still alive. I'm still alive. You're still alive. And all five million people that we lost have no idea that anything happened other than a big bright boom in the sky. They stopped it, Peter. And you didn't need to be killed."
Peter leaned back against Hiro, tensing only a bit as he shifted his concentration to his skin, pushing back that draining ability. "I still wonder sometimes," he said, his voice barely audible, despite how close he was to Hiro's ear. "Maybe I am too dangerous. Maybe something like me shouldn't exist."
"Don't talk like that, Peter," Hiro said quietly. "Because no matter what you are, you are still you. You're more like you than I have seen you in years, and there are people here that need you. This isn't where we were, Peter. It might not be home, but it's...so much better," He said, closing his eyes before his voice dropped ask he added hesitantly. "Besides, what if Sylar shows up? I doubt there's anyone else here that would know how to handle him. And god knows with Not-Yet-Sylar running around, he'd have the perfect in to ingratiate himself with this crowd."
"I know that," he said, nodding. "It's not like I want to die. But sometimes it--" Peter pulled back from his friend, growling slightly as he clamped his teeth shut. "I hate this. People should be allowed to lie. People need to lie."
Hiro laughed softly. "You don't have to tell me everything, Peter," He said with a sigh. "I think I understand now. And that's enough for me," He said, worrying he bottom lip. He knew exactly what Peter felt like. They probably had more secrets than some of the other people around here. Well, more than some at least. "Hell, you think it's bad for us. Just image what your mother must be going through. Does she even know how to talk without lying?"
Peter pinched at the bridge of his nose, remembering the conversation he'd had with his mother over the boards. "I can imagine it only too well. I'm not sure if she's ever going to come out of her room again."
"We can only hope," Hiro said, a wicked smirk on his face as he clapped Peter on the back. "I'm sorry about putting you on the spot like I did, Peter. Honestly. I just... I just needed to know."
After a moment, Peter nodded. "Yeah. It's okay. It... wasn't really fair to keep you in the dark any longer." He looked back at Hiro. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
"Water under the bridge, Peter," Hiro said with a smile. "We're still best friends as far as I'm concerned, and nothing can change that."
That brought a smile. Casual forgiveness had never been Hiro's style. It he said it, he meant it with every fiber of his being. So this time it was Peter who reached over and pulled his best friend into a tight hug.
"Nothing's gonna change that," he agreed. "Nothing."
"Nothing," Hiro echoed with a grin, clapping Peter on the back. "I've missed you, Peter. Honestly. It's good having you back. In a situation where we don't have to storm the main offices of the DHS."
Peter blinked. "Stormed the main..." He trailed off, remembering that's where the younger Hiro had been held, in this Hiro's past. The smile on his lips slowly turned into a smirk. "I hope it was a good fight," he said.
"It was," Hiro said with a very slight smile. "Even if we never would have made it in time. We were lucky it turned out Dr. Suresh knew his priorities after all."
Peter furrowed his brow. "Suresh? Not Mohinder." But of course, Hiro was telling the truth. Peter shifted his weight, crossing his arms, and preparing to hear the whole story. "Spill. What exactly happened when the younger you showed up?"
"Exactly?" Hiro repeated. "Damn, Peter, ask something a little more complicated, why don't you? It's a long story. It might be a good idea for us to find somewhere to sit down," He said, slipping a hand into his pocket as he worried his bottom lip. "When they, Ando and the younger me, got there, they had to have arrived within view of the agents who were always watching the place. Parkman and his lot ended up getting the drop on us."
Wordlessly, at the suggestion of finding someplace to sit and talk, Peter grasped Hiro by the shoulder, and teleported them both to the Santa Monica pier. The docks were usually empty around this time. He sat down, looking up at his friend and waiting, quietly.
Hiro sat down next to Peter, continuing with a soft sigh, "They grabbed the younger version of me before I could do anything. I'd already grabbed Ando and moved to get him out of there, but I couldn't very well go back without risking all of us. They'd take him back to the DHS headquarters for questioning, so once we were clear, Ando and I left for Vegas to get you so we could get into the DHS and get him back."
"Which is when Niki turned you away." Peter nodded. "I'm not surprised. Like I said, she didn't want me to have anything to do with you anymore." His voice held only understanding, not bitterness. He'd loved Niki. He still loved her. And she'd known better than anyone, better than Hiro even, how hard the choice to leave that life had been for Peter. In her own way, shunning Hiro was a way of protecting Peter, and thus, protecting herself.
"Yeah. Well, she wouldn't let me see you, so I asked her where Bennet was last, instead," Hiro said with a heavy frown. "If you weren't coming, I'd need a lot of reinforcements in order to get in and get out alive. DL, Molly, Candice. I only asked for the locations of the people that we'd brought to him personally, the ones that I knew would help."
"Back to Texas then," Peter said with a frown. "You know, I didn't have a good feeling about Bennet lately. Well, I hadn't. He was just... too focused sometimes. like he was trying to think about one thing, so no other thoughts could creep in."
Something had been wrong the last time he'd seen Bennet. Peter had gone off the radar shortly after, and never went back to check. Now he wondered if he should have.
"For good reason," Hiro said quietly. "He betrayed us, Peter. He was working with Parkman. I don't know why or for how long, but Matt knew that we were there after Bennet left. He had to have called him," Hiro said quietly, trying to suppress that nagging urge that was hitting him to tell Peter about the raid that had been called. Hiro hadn't thought about it much when he'd first heard the report when talking to Ando, but now...now, the more he thought about it, the tip off had to have been Bennet. He was the only one that would have known where to find over 200 Evos. The only one.
Peter growled, swore under his breath. "The bastard. We trusted him for so long. For years." He'd even trusted Bennet with the placement of his nephews. If Bennet had betrayed that trust...
Peter bit back his anger and nodded for Hiro to continue.
"You'd obviously followed us. Either that, or you just have a damned good sense of timing because after Parkman stunned me, you showed up and got us out of there," Hiro said, raking a hand through his hair. "Or at least, that's what Ando said. I was unconscious the whole time."
Peter smirked. "Why can't it be both?" Then he shrugged. "If I'd been there the whole time, I wouldn't have let you get stunned. So let's just put it off to my uncanny sense of timing." He considered for a moment, trying to think of what he would have done, if put in that position. "I would have taken you back to the club. Whether Niki liked it or not. Safest place for you." Especially with how people knew how much Hiro and Niki hated one another. And it was the only other place where someone had known Peter was alive.
"You did," Hiro said as he looked over at Peter with a slight smile. "Give me time to recover. Though, you didn't have to tell Ando that he had died," Hiro said, his expression going a bit sad. "I had been trying to avoid discussing that with him until I felt like he was ready to hear it."
Peter sighed. "That not something anyone is ever ready to hear, Hiro. And it was even less likely that you were ready to tell it again. Hell, the only times I could get you talking about Ando were when you had a bottle of sake already running through your bloodstream."
"We both had people we'd only talk about in an alcohol induced stupor, Peter," Hiro said with a heavy frown. "What are you going to do if Simone shows up?"
Peter felt his heart and throat clench at the mention of that name. His chest filled with a combination of elation and sick dread, and he turned his face away from Hiro. His throat clenched and unclenched as he tried to speak, but words wouldn't work.
Don't. Hiro, don't... Don't do that.
Hiro frowned softly as he looked over at his friend before moving closer to him, wrapping an arm around Peter's shoulder in support. "Charlie showed up, Peter. It is possible," Hiro said quietly. "Hell, I've actually been expecting it since Charlie got here, ghosts appearing from the ether."
Peter tensed at the touch, bitter over the mention of the woman who had been his love for so long. Even now his heart ached at the memory of her, gasping and bleeding and dying in his arms.
"I don't know," he admitted, cursing the truth as it fell from his lips. "I'm falling for someone, Hiro. Falling hard. Simone's been gone so long... But sometimes it feels like yesterday."
"I know, Peter," Hiro said quietly. "I know," He said, frowning to himself as he looked sidelong at Peter. At least Peter wouldn't have to share either of them with a bright spirited, undamaged version of himself. And Hiro winced the second the stray thought crossed his mind. It was probably a bit too loud. "I'm sorry I brought it up, Peter. It's not something you should be worrying about. There's enough here to keep you busy already."
Peter grasped Hiro's hand, and squeezed a bit. "We're both damaged goods," he said, a touch of a bitter note ringing through the tone of his voice. "But apparently, it's not our call to see if we're still able to be loved."
He shook his head lightly, dismissing the apology. "I can't worry about it. It'll either happen, or it won't. I don't even know which to hope for, so I can't. Just have to take it as it comes."
He let out his breath, desperate to switch topics back. "So you're unconscious at the club, I tell Ando what happened... I'm assuming that at some point, you woke up. Or Niki came in."
"I'm thinking Niki probably came in before I woke up since you weren't in the room when I did," Hiro said as he leaned against Peter, not letting go of his friend's hand, silently thankful for the support. They were coming to the most difficult parts to explain and relate, and Hiro wasn't sure he'd be able to get through it in one piece. He'd broken down in front of Nathan, after all. And this was Peter so Hiro could only think that his reaction would be that much worse. "Once I'd recovered well enough, we went to go and get him."
Peter nodded. Silent, he gripped his friend's hand a bit more firmly. He could feel the need for support, and was ready to give it, to listen to the story and help Hiro through it. "Homeland Security," he said softly. They'd never attempted it before. There had never been that need.
"Homeland Security," Hiro echoed quietly, a heavy frown on his face as he closed his eyes. "We made it," Hiro said quietly. "We had to fight our way through. They sent out so many guards, but we made it in time," Hiro said with a soft laugh. "Or rather, we made it in time because Mohinder had already killed the Haitian and by the time that we had gotten up to the floor they were keeping on him, was already trying to get the other me the hell out of there."
Peter whistled softly through his teeth. Killed the Haitian? That was more than Peter would have expected. The Haitian had long been the DHS's top prize, with his ability to nullify the powers of others. The loss of him was an enormous victory for the Underground -- or would have been, if the Underground was still active.
"I don't...know much of what happened after that," Hiro said softly. "It's all a blur, really. We got Hiro and Ando together. The younger me said his powers weren't working, so I offered to take the two of them back..." Hiro trailed off briefly before saying quietly. "Parkman shot me. The door slammed to keep him out. I... I gave Ando Isaac's comic, the one that he drew of the last battle. And... I... Kinda..." Hiro wanted to say I blacked out. He wanted to say it, but the truth forced the statement down when he knew it his gut what had really happened. "I died. And I ended up here."
Peter froze for a moment, the air temperature taking a sudden dive before rising again as he fought for control of his emotions. His hand tightened, hard, and then he released a breath, relaxing his grip and brushing Hiro's hand with healing energy.
"I'm sorry," he said, softly. Apologizing for possibly hurting his friend's hand, or for the death, he didn't know. But did it matter? He looked up at Hiro. "You're not going back there. Not you, not me, not any of us. Not so long as I can help it."
"We're better off here," Hiro said quietly. "Even if it is it's own brand of weird, it's better than what we had to go through back in order own world," He said as he gave Peter's hand another squeeze to wordlessly tell him that it was all right. "You've got your family. I've got Charlie," Hiro said, his voice dipping slightly. He really wouldn't have minded having Ando and his family around as well. It had been...far too long since he'd seen his father or Kimi. "There's no Company to worry ourselves over and no government trying to kill us. We can actually breathe."
Peter nodded his agreement. "It's better here. It can be... It could be home. If we let it." He looked at Hiro. "We can breathe. We can live."
"It'll be nice," Hiro said quietly, "to get to live again rather than just survive."
Peter gave Hiro a smile. "It's enough to fight for." Wrapping an arm around his friend, he pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm glad you're here, man."
"I'm glad I am, too," Hiro said as he returned the hug, a teasing smirk spreading across his face as he continued. "Someone's got to keep you from getting yourself in over your head, after all."
Peter laughed. "Too late for that, my friend. Far too late for that."