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Title: Monsters
Fandoms: Heroes
Rating: PG
Genre: Sci-fi, Angst
Warnings: None.
Wordcount: 433
Characters/Pairings: Matt Parkman.
Summary: An introspective piece on power and the potential abuses thereof. Oneshot.
Details: I actually wrote this around three years ago. I write most of my notes in present tense and convert it to past tense as I flesh out the story. That's actually what this was, the jotted down idea for a more in-depth story. I re-found it by accident, and reading it now I thought it could stand on its own with just a few tweaks, so here it is...
Monster was a word that got thrown around a lot. Right now, Matt is thinking about all the people that word brings to mind.
It was obvious how the word applied to someone like Sylar. It could be extended easily to encompass people like Adam Monroe and Linderman, who had been so callously and casually willing to hurt so many people. Men like Danko, for whom all the good intentions in the world couldn't excuse his sins. He felt a woman like Angela Petrelli, who had parceled her soul away by pieces, was also well qualified to wear it. Nathan...had made mistakes. He had been complacent in horrible things. Matt doesn't know if it is only by dint of the man's death that he avoids putting that name on him.
One name that comes immediately to mind when he thinks of monsters is his own father, Maury Parkman.
He remembers the way his father terrorized Molly, like something out of a horror story. He remembers Angela invoking that name out when he tried to take the answers from her mind.
He remembers the things that his father had done with the talent they shared, and he can't help thinking of the things he can do now. He thinks of the horrible things he has done fighting against Danko. The wills he had overridden. He had forced another to kill, and that blood was on his hands. He thinks of when he tore into Bennet's mind for the man's secrets, ignoring his screams. The ugly truths he had exposed for others. The lies he had forced people to believe, of which his cruel mockery of Nathan Petrelli had been the worst of all...
He thinks about how it wasn't until he met his father that those capabilities started to show themselves in him. He remembers that first time, telling Molly to finish her breakfast, telling her to forget.
It had come to him so casually it almost felt natural.
Since coming home to his wife and son, Matt thinks of his father a lot. He thinks of him during every argument he and Jan have. Thinks about what it would have been like to make those go away. It would be so easy… It would be wrong. The knowledge that he could do that with her, make things right between them hurts him so much. He has done a lot of things, but it would be the worst thing he has ever done. Possibly the worst thing he could do.
He thinks of Mattie.
Sometimes the idea of being a father frightens him. But the idea of becoming his father frightens him more.
Fandoms: Heroes
Rating: PG
Genre: Sci-fi, Angst
Warnings: None.
Wordcount: 433
Characters/Pairings: Matt Parkman.
Summary: An introspective piece on power and the potential abuses thereof. Oneshot.
Details: I actually wrote this around three years ago. I write most of my notes in present tense and convert it to past tense as I flesh out the story. That's actually what this was, the jotted down idea for a more in-depth story. I re-found it by accident, and reading it now I thought it could stand on its own with just a few tweaks, so here it is...
Monster was a word that got thrown around a lot. Right now, Matt is thinking about all the people that word brings to mind.
It was obvious how the word applied to someone like Sylar. It could be extended easily to encompass people like Adam Monroe and Linderman, who had been so callously and casually willing to hurt so many people. Men like Danko, for whom all the good intentions in the world couldn't excuse his sins. He felt a woman like Angela Petrelli, who had parceled her soul away by pieces, was also well qualified to wear it. Nathan...had made mistakes. He had been complacent in horrible things. Matt doesn't know if it is only by dint of the man's death that he avoids putting that name on him.
One name that comes immediately to mind when he thinks of monsters is his own father, Maury Parkman.
He remembers the way his father terrorized Molly, like something out of a horror story. He remembers Angela invoking that name out when he tried to take the answers from her mind.
He remembers the things that his father had done with the talent they shared, and he can't help thinking of the things he can do now. He thinks of the horrible things he has done fighting against Danko. The wills he had overridden. He had forced another to kill, and that blood was on his hands. He thinks of when he tore into Bennet's mind for the man's secrets, ignoring his screams. The ugly truths he had exposed for others. The lies he had forced people to believe, of which his cruel mockery of Nathan Petrelli had been the worst of all...
He thinks about how it wasn't until he met his father that those capabilities started to show themselves in him. He remembers that first time, telling Molly to finish her breakfast, telling her to forget.
It had come to him so casually it almost felt natural.
Since coming home to his wife and son, Matt thinks of his father a lot. He thinks of him during every argument he and Jan have. Thinks about what it would have been like to make those go away. It would be so easy… It would be wrong. The knowledge that he could do that with her, make things right between them hurts him so much. He has done a lot of things, but it would be the worst thing he has ever done. Possibly the worst thing he could do.
He thinks of Mattie.
Sometimes the idea of being a father frightens him. But the idea of becoming his father frightens him more.
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no subject
Date: Sunday, 12 February 2012 05:05 pm (UTC)From:To think - Matt gets up in the morning and decides he doesn't want to go to work. So fine. He commands Janice to make breakfast for him. He eats it. He gets in his car and drives to the convenience store. He commands the clerk not to charge him, gets some munchies and gas. He goes to the movieplex, commands the guy there to let him in. Watches a movie. Drops by work to see if anything interesting is going on. Commands a few perps to confess; commands the detectives to drop the cases against a few guys who are actually innocent. He commands his boss to be his friend and they hang out for a while, shooting the breeze and having a good time. As he leaves, he's not feeling like going home, so he snags a random passer-by and tells the person to go eat with him. Then he tells the person to tell him their life story, their secrets, all the interesting bits and keep him entertained. Finally, he goes home, commands Janice not to question his activities for the day, or to believe him when he says he was at work, eats dinner, makes love, and goes to bed. Tomorrow he can expect to repeat it, doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, making everyone bow to his whim.
To me, that's just mind-blowing. His power is right up there vying for the "most incredible, powerful single ability" out there, excepting multiple abilities.
The restraint it would take not to abuse that power is, to me, virtually inhuman. It'd be like having perfectly good sight, yet going around with your eyes shut all the time.
Thank you for such a thought-provoking little ficlet!
no subject
Date: Sunday, 12 February 2012 11:39 pm (UTC)From:And I agree about his ability. Hiro's ability is probably more destructive potentially, but Matt's is a clear second. From the very beginning of the series Matt has been one of the most clearly flawed characters in the show, and I've always loved the moral questions attached to his ability. For some reason, after Sylar Matt is probably the easiest character for me to get into the mind of.