if someone betrays me, i won't be a victim (rp for witnessof_fate

[heroslayer]

He couldn't quite say what had caused the shift this time, his awareness of what Nathan did becoming less and less absolute as the lines between them blurred, but he could say that it had been both fast and sudden. One minute, Nathan had been on hold with Yagamoto Industries, trying to get in touch with Hiro as Mohinder had suggested, and the next, he was on the floor, the shift of skin and bone already slowing by the time his face connected with the carpet. He'd noted dimly that the change had to be some kind of record -- faster even than when he was in control of whose face he was wearing at any given moment -- and then the thought was gone as he tried to catch his breath.

He'd barely managed to get a handle on himself and the twitchiness that came in the wake of awareness when a voice, distant but still familiar, started yammering from -- somewhere.

Pushing himself up out of the carpet, careful to stifle a groan, his eyes fell to the ground as he searched for the source of the disturbance. It didn't take too long before he noted Nathan's cell phone, slightly worse for the wear from where he'd crumpled on top of it. It took even less time to connect things enough that he could place who, exactly, was shouting at him from the other end of the line and why.

Rage as sharp as the change back had been rose in his chest, choking the breath he'd just gotten back out of him again, and he reached out, fingers curling around the phone viciously. For a brief instant, he considered telling Nakamura that he was back -- hell, maybe he'd go for the whole truth just to put some kind of black mark on Bennet and Parkman's records -- and then he thought better of it. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on the phone, allowing himself a brief moment of satisfaction as it came apart in pieces in his hand.

Uncurling his fingers, he let the remains of the device clatter to the floor unceremoniously, and got to his feet, moving towards the door immediately. He needed to find Mohinder. Someone needed to suffer both for letting Nathan somehow manifest his abilities and for talking the politician into trying to make himself into an weapon of justice. Someone needed to pay for using him again, just as the Petrellis had, and leaving him with no voice to argue the choice. And considering Mohinder had been responsible for at least two of those slights -- a fact which he was keenly aware of now, when he hadn't quite been when he'd first come to -- it was only fair.

That in mind, he let himself into the garden where he could vaguely recall Mohinder telling Nathan he'd be when he got off the phone, and sunk into the shadows along its edges, not wanting to be seen before he could make the other man out in the dying daylight.

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[heroslayer]

Nathan was hesitant to leave despite Mohinder's assurances, half sure that the second he left the room, the Indian would slide out of consciousness and not wake up. He cast a glance over his shoulder, worrying his lower lip between his teeth, and then turned back to Mohinder, raising his hands almost defensively. "Just stay awake," he repeated.

Steeling his jaw, he forced himself into action, ducking back into the house and making a bee line for the bedroom, that the last place he could recall his phone being. It wouldn't have taken Sherlock Holmes to notice that his only hope was in pieces on the floor just inside the doorway. "... What the hell?"

He didn't take the time to think on it for very long -- he didn't have the time -- instead moving back out to the living room, snagging the phone off of one of the tables. And clicking it on, he dialed the number Mohinder had given him as he stalked back out to the garden. He could only hope Mohinder was still awake.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

The moment Nathan wandered away, Mohinder was fairly certain he was going to fall over unconscious. He understood the risks in some distant corner of his mind, but he found it hard to care. The shivering was getting worse, though ever tremble hurt like hell, making him feel like he was going to come apart with the pain. Maybe parts of him had. He had split off into tiny pieces with Sylar's attack, parts of him wanting to die, thinking he deserved to. The goodbye, so final, had left him feeling like there was a hole underneath the sharper pain of his ribs.

It would be so much easier to just slip away, to let the pain pull him under until he couldn't feel any of it anymore. Maybe that would be better for all of them--for him, for Sylar, for whatever was left of Nathan. He didn't know, though, and he struggled to hold on, because maybe they still needed him, maybe there was something he could still do...

He sighed, and it hurt, but it pulled him back to consciousness.

[heroslayer]

"Still with me?" Nathan asked, concern written on his face as he moved to join him. Not that he had time for an answer if there was one or a moment to check on him, someone on the other line picking up just seconds after the phone had started ringing.

He took a moment to pray that whoever it was that was taking his call understood English since they had not answered in it, then once it became apparent that language wasn't going to be an issue, he started rattling off details. They asked him to stay on the line -- typical of emergency calls, he figured -- and so he did, though he tipped the receiver away from his mouth so that he could mumble to Mohinder. "They'll be here soon."

And God, he hoped Mohinder had some kind of explanation for this, because he sure as hell didn't. Not yet, anyway, as it seemed the pieces were drifting back to him in random order when he'd only had blank spots in his memory after one of his black outs, before.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder mumbled something in the affirmative when Nathan came back, but didn't open his eyes. It seemed like too much effort, and he figured that was enough to let Nathan know he was still alive. Really, that was about all Mohinder could concern himself with at the moment, feeling the rest of the evening's horror starting to drift away from him. What it meant or what it was going to entail, what he'd have to do to make up for it, or say on the other side, he couldn't even think about right now. Too many things were too confusing.

Was Sylar really gone? He didn't know. What was he going to tell Nathan? He didn't know. What was he going to tell his mother? He had no idea. How could he explain his injuries to Molly without terrifying her? No clue.

Vaguely it occurred to him that Sylar healed. That meant Nathan...Nathan, or Sylar's...blood. Blood healed. He could be out of pain and fine in moments, but that would...that would mean more explanations. How did he know it would work? Why did he even think of it? What was he hiding? Nathan would never believe him if he said it was just a hunch. The whole truth would have to come out and he couldn't...didn't know if he could...what could he say that wouldn't destroy him, them, everything? So he kept his mouth shut, not seeing any way out of this for anyone, really, but still trying to find something.

[heroslayer]

As much as Mohinder might have wanted to avoid questions about what had happened exactly while he still could, it seemed Nathan wasn't about to let him have that luxury.

He tilted the phone a bit more away from his head, covering the mouthpiece with his fingers tightly. A moment was spent making sure he couldn't make out the sound of his breathing or those of the house -- if he couldn't hear them, he doubted the man on the other end of the line could -- and then he was sighing. "They're going to want to know what happened. What am I supposed to tell them? Because I don't -- " He stopped short, making a face in spite of himself, and then corrected, "It's hazy. It's coming back, but they're going to want the whole story."

Hell, he wanted the whole story, just to have something to combat the feeling of dread that was starting to sink in as the memory tried to fit into place.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder was quiet for a long time, contemplating just not answering. Sylar knew when he was lying--some ability he must have picked him. He'd been alert to notice that. If he were able to use that ability even when Nathan's consciousness was dominant...he took a shaky breath which started him coughing again, which was just agony. There was blood on his hand when he pulled it away and he shuddered a bit, knowing that was bad.

Still not looking at Nathan, though, and struggling to stay upright on his own he managed a dark sort of smile. "We can't tell them what really happened. Just...say I was out walking and was attacked by an unknown assailant. I didn't get a good look at him, it was dark. It happens a lot here, in certain parts of the city." He tried to take a shallow breath, to avoid setting off the coughing. "It was Sylar. He was here."

[heroslayer]

"Okay."

Mohinder wasn't lying -- he could just tell that much -- but that answer still didn't feel like the truth. Mostly because he could half-recall being with Mohinder just a few minutes ago, while he couldn't remember the killer being in the picture in the first place. That, coupled with all the new abilities he'd just picked up somehow didn't make him feel much better; if anything it made him feel worse.

Taking a deep breath, he uncovered the phone, cradling it between his shoulder and head, and took a step towards Mohinder, reaching to brush his fingers over his hair, lightly. The motion was as much for his own benefit as it was Mohinder's, as was the fact that he repeated, "It's gonna be okay."

And as if to affirm that, somewhere in the distance, sirens screamed into the twilight.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder nodded a little, unable to summon much in the way of words to reassure Nathan anymore. He was feeling sick again, and the sound of sirens was a welcome one. It meant, if nothing else, they'd let him sleep soon, let this somehow be a bad dream, where none of this had happened, and Sylar hadn't said those things, and Nathan didn't look so lost, and he didn't feel this way.

He leaned a bit into Nathan's hand, as much to stay upright as anything else and listened as the sirens grew closer, even as they started to fade more into the creeping blackness surrounding him.

[heroslayer]

"Just a few more minutes," he murmured, fingers still combing through his hair, the motion as much an effort to keep him awake as it was meant to be soothing, "but you need to stay with me until then. Just listen to the sound of my voice or something. You don't have to talk if you don't want to, just stay awake."

Not that he'd need to even do that for much longer as the ambulance had clearly arrived. Mohinder's mother appeared in the doorway just seconds before the paramedics, and while she paused there, stunned, they didn't, pushing past her with a stretcher. Nathan stepped back to let them do whatever they needed to; he'd been around Pete long enough to know that you didn't get in the way of someone in the medical profession when they were working.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder was vaguely aware of his mother, but only on the periphery. What he'd tell her, what he could say, he didn't know. He felt himself fall nearly into the paramedics' hands. Nathan's voice was something distant and he felt himself pulled away from him, other hands moving over him, prodding lightly, checking vitals, pushing this and pressing that and backing off when he cried out softly in pain.

There were questions that started being fired as he felt a slice along his side. Something for his lung no doubt, because he could breathe a bit better--and then there was nothing but darkness, and this time he didn't bother fighting it, but gave up for a little while.