(Fic) Black Edelweiss—Chapter Eleven: Exit, Stage Left
Saturday, 28 January 2012 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
black_sluggardTitle: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 2,375
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full warnings and details in main post.
PREV: Interlude 7 // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 8
Recap: The Company files on their suspect, Konrad Reichardt, were delivered by Hiro Nakamura. Beckett, Castle and Bennet managed to learn the full details of Reichardt's place in Company history, his ties to the immortal sociopath Adam Monroe, and his involvement in Zimmerman's dismissal from the Company. Finally, they managed to uncover a photograph of their suspect, revealing Reichardt's startling resemblance to Kevin Ryan.
Using the profile in Reichardt's files, Lanie confirmed a genetic match between Ryan and Reichardt, seeming to prove that the two men were one in the same. For obvious reasons, Kevin and Javier have both been taken off the case. Meanwhile, Bennet enlisted Peter Petrelli to help understand this bizarre mystery, and while Peter and Hiro traveled to LA to acquire Matt Parkman's telepathic abilities, Sylar took it upon himself to use their unique common ground to convince Ryan to allow Reichardt to be brought to the surface for questioning...
Chapter Eleven: Exit, Stage Left
If your mirror be broken, look into still water; but have a care that you do not fall in.
—Hindu Proverb
If Javier hadn't already begun to hate Bennet, this would have been enough. And if he might have potentially appreciated the man discussing the idea with him first, in private, it was immediately offset by the feeling that it was less consideration on Bennet's part than a tactic of divide-and-conquer.
"When we start," Bennet was saying, "I want Peter and Ryan to be the only ones in that room."
"Try again," Javier said, not bothering to disguise his displeasure with the idea. "You as much as said when you showed up that this wasn't your rodeo. You're not about to take the reins now."
"It may not be, detective, but it's also not my first," Bennet told him, coolly. "I've been handling specials since you were a kid playing cops-and-robbers, so whatever your personal opinion of me—whyever you have it—I would appreciate the respect due that fact at least."
Bennet paused, shifting his demeanor as he met Javier's glare evenly. When he continued his voice was nothing so condescending as gentle, thank God, but there was a surprising note of respect not previously heard.
"I know Ryan is a colleague of yours and probably a friend, but Reichardt is an unknown quantity," Bennet told him levelly. "I've seen an empathic mimic absorb dozens of abilities within only a few short months. Reichardt worked at the Company for decades. That put him in contact with an unknown number of potentially very dangerous abilities, and even with his own ability crippled, that is not a threat to be taken lightly."
As little as he liked that—Kevin being considered a threat—it was a difficult argument to challenge very easily, and Javier came up with nothing right away.
"He's not just a colleague," Javier finally managed after a few moments, voice tense with...apart from anger, he wasn't sure just what. "Not just a friend. He's my partner. I have to be there for him—"
His voice froze in his throat, the words "'til the wheels fall off" nearly escaping his lips.
It was Kevin's phrase from just over a year ago when it had been Javier being pulled down by the weight of past demons. Words promising him that, no matter what, Kevin had his back. Kevin's current situation went far so beyond going off books to clear Ike's name that it needed a passport, and Javier felt like his axle had been scraping pavement since the moment he laid eyes on that photograph—if not long before. Still he was determined to meet the challenge all the same.
Anything else just wasn't a physical possibility.
Bennet regarded him carefully then, something flickering briefly in those cool eyes that, if Javier hadn't known better, might have looked oddly like guilt.
"I'm not trying to shut your people out of this," Bennet said finally. "If it were at all possible to avoid it, I wouldn't choose to put Peter in that position either, but precautions need to be taken where at all possible. If you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to discuss with Detective Beckett."
Bennet slipped away quickly, leaving Javier feeling dismissed whatever his intent.
Kevin was at his desk when Javier found him, phone lifted to his ear, and though he didn't get close enough to listen in it was obvious from the soft, careful tones of his voice that his partner was talking to Jenny. Even standing out of earshot, it was impossible not to try and imagine the conversation, though what Kevin might have chosen to say to her Javier couldn't even begin to guess.
And, as Javier watched Kevin locking away his personal effects—gun and badge, phone, wallet—it was just as impossible not to see the act as painfully symbolic.
Javier caught his partner's eye a moment later and tried to offer him a reassuring smile, though the feeling was only half there, and he could tell Kevin knew it. The walk to interrogation was a silent one, Javier following behind with a hand resting lightly on his partner's shoulder. Offering comfort, but just as much to reassure himself that Kevin was still there. In a few minutes, Javier knew, he wouldn't be, and it took nearly all his effort not to tighten his grip. Nothing could have made the situation okay, but Javier thought he was as prepared as he could ever be. Still, when they entered the interview room and he saw the shackles—fixed to a bolt on the underside of the table—he nearly balked.
As he went about the impossible task of placing his best friend and partner in chains, Javier made good use of his time...
"Bro, you don't have to do this."
Kevin's eyes, which had been resting uncertainly on his reflection in the mirror across the room, flickered to his, and he offered a weak smile.
"Yeah, Javi, I do," Kevin told him quietly. "I'm a suspect. I might be our killer. You can't just ignore that, sweep it under the rug and pretend it's not there. I can't either. Javier..."
His partner paused, wetting his lips.
"I'm scared to death of what happens next," Kevin admitted, though his voice was remarkably steady considering the circumstances. "But it's like that stupid metaphor about the cat in the box that Castle likes so much—its not really dead or alive until you get a peek inside, even though you know it can really only be one or the other."
"I'm guilty or I'm innocent," Kevin told him, with more certainty in his voice and his gaze than Javier had seen since the whole thing began. "It's one or the other, but I can't not know."
Javier looked away first, though he nodded faintly. He had to accept that, he knew. He just really wished it were otherwise. Javier finished with the cuffs, and for a moment neither one of them could manage to look at anything else. After a long, quiet while staring at the cold metal around his wrists, his partner spoke again.
"Javier, I want you to promise me something."
"No, Kev," he interrupted quickly. "Do not pull this kind of crap on me, I swear to God—"
Kevin shook his head.
"I'm not— Nothing like that," Kevin clarified quickly, stopping for a moment to recollect his thoughts. "Just... Please. Promise me you'll do whatever it takes to make sure no one gets hurt."
And that needed no clarification. Kevin needed to know that he—that Reichardt—wouldn't be allowed to hurt anyone.
"I promise," Javier agreed slowly, looking Kevin squarely in the eye, "but you know what? It's not going to matter. I am not letting you out of my sight. And that's a promise too, okay?"
"Okay," Kevin confirmed steadily, and the ferocious trust that Javier saw looking back at him made something twist in his stomach.
Glancing at the door, Javier couldn't seem to make himself move. The situation just begged...more. More what he didn't know, exactly, but Javier refused to say any kind of goodbye. Kevin was coming back. Javier knew that—he just had to remember that he knew that. When he finally stood, Javier slapped his partner's shoulder, the casual gesture startling Kevin faintly. Any other time, his surprised expression might have been funny.
"See you soon, Kev."
Kevin managed a short nod, and Javier offered a measured smile. Then he stepped out into the hall, letting Peter Petrelli in to do...whatever the hell it was the man was going to do to his partner. Javier had to take a deep breath before joining the others in the observation room. His sanity was teetering just close enough to the edge that the enclosed space might have tipped him over completely.
Entering the booth, Javier frowned as he squeezed past the man who had arrived with Petrelli.
Gabriel.
Apparently Gabriel felt he had a stake in Kevin's well-being. Javier wasn't sure how he felt about that. There was something unsettling about the man, something Javier hadn't felt around any of the other specials he'd so far encountered.
Javier remembered watching uneasily from the window as Gabriel had spoken with his partner. Whatever they had talked about, it had somehow convinced Kevin that he had to do this. Javier's feelings on that subject were much less of a mystery. Of course, Javier hadn't been the only one attentive to that conversation. Bennet had stood very close by, watching with a focus so narrow it could almost have cut the glass. It had brought to his mind a portion of the future he had glimpsed, when Agent DiNozzo and his partner had exchanged words concerning Bennet's issues with someone of the same name. While it was entirely possible that they had been talking about another Gabriel, he doubted it.
Like Bennet, Javier was beginning to lose faith in the concept of coincidence.
As he passed, Gabriel cast him a speculative glance that somehow managed to seem both surprised and knowing. Javier didn't know how to interpret it, so he tried to put it out of his mind. He resolved to be wary around the man, however. It didn't take a detective to guess that if the guy somehow made Bennet uneasy, Gabriel wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
Taking another slow breath, Javier set his back to the wall, letting it support him as he watched Petrelli settle into the chair across from his partner. Seeing Kevin sitting there on the wrong side of the table, anxious and in chains, only served to heighten the painful surreality of the situation they found themselves in. It was like a nightmare. Javier's only consolation was the dubious mercy of knowing there had never been anything he could have done. It was a no-win scenario, but one which had been hanging over their heads for as long as they had known each other. And, while his own unusual circumstances made it impossible for Javier to say he hadn't seen it coming, at the very least he could accept that, if he still hadn't found them a way out of this situation eight years from now, there wasn't one to be had.
Distracted by the storm of dread and confusion in his mind, Javier gave himself credit that he didn't flinch when Peter Petrelli's voice buzzed from the speakers inside the booth.
"When I start," Peter said, "I want you to close your eyes and think about a place you feel safe and relaxed. Talk to me about it. It should be place that belongs to you. Some memory Reichardt wouldn't share."
Kevin looked at the other man, eyebrows raised with vague, skeptical surprise.
"You want me to find my happy place?" Kevin said, amusement leaking into his voice despite the tension. "Are you serious? Then what? Do I find my power animal and slide?"
Javier wasn't surprised when Castle let out a startled snort, and Peter let out a soft, sympathetic laugh of his own.
"If it worked for Edward Norton…"
Javier couldn't see Peter's face as he said it, but his partner managed a feeble smile. Kevin lifted his eyes to the mirror past Peter's shoulder, though whether it was his reflection he was searching out or those he knew lay behind it Javier couldn't begin to guess. Then, readying himself with a slow breath, Kevin closed his eyes.
"Uh, home, I guess?" Kevin said, uncertainly. "My apartment, I mean. I've been there for about…maybe four years, so I'm pretty sure—"
Kevin cut off, and Javier could see the confusion writing itself over his features again. While a large part of his past had been laid bare to them, it was still uncertain for how much of the life he remembered it had actually been him.
"Go on," Peter encouraged gently. Kevin wet his lips, nodding before he continued.
"It's kind of small. I mean, it's not ridiculous but I could probably do better on a detective's salary. It's actually got a decent view, though—nothing you'd put on postcards, but it's a nice street. I think I'd rather have that than a few extra square feet. I think it's cozy, though whenever I say that Jenny always rolls her eyes, and Javier just thinks I'm nuts."
Halting and uncertain at first, the words gradually came more freely, and Kevin even ticked a faint smile at that last.
"It's not even as small as they make out, it just looks that way because of the couch. It's a bit over-sized, but it's comfortable. Broken in." Kevin smiled lightly. "I picked it up off the curb. Roadkill recycling offends Javi's delicate sensibilities, but its a perfectly reasonable strategy for interior decorating."
Javier found himself letting out a tense laugh in spite of himself.
"He made a big fuss when I first told him that, but he never had a problem with it before that, and it despite his protests it didn't exactly keep him from coming over after. I mean, we both know who has the superior roost where video games are concerned..."
Kevin continued on, but Javier found it difficult to focus on what he was saying. The pace of the words had begun to slow again, though not like before. They came out sluggishly now and there was an odd softness that had crept into his partner's tone that seemed oddly distant. Finally the words ran out and Kevin sat there, completely silent. The worried lines that had been etched into his forehead had smoothed as well, and his face was left almost entirely slack. Like he was sleeping.
And Javier hadn't even realized it, but a part of him had still been holding on desperately to a faint, tortured spark of hope. Hope that Petrelli might turn around and tell them that somehow this had all been some sort of bizarre mistake. But that final, tragic spark was ground out quickly by the unmistakeable proof of what Javier saw next. His partner rocked forward as a light shudder passed through his body, and then—
And then the small cut on Kevin's forehead healed.
The sight left Javier speechless and numb, and a few others in the booth stirred as well. He heard Kate's gasp, and Bennet's posture stiffened visibly, and Castle was left staring, wide eyed. And in the interrogation room, Peter finally turned around to look at them through the mirror.
"I've got him."
PREV: Interlude 7 // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 8
Author's Note: Apologies to anyone who didn't get the Fight Club reference, but I honestly couldn't help it.
There's going to be a bit of a hiatus in between this chapter and the next, though we'll see a few interludes (some of which are even relevant, so keep an eye out).
And in Chapter 12, Javier and the others get to meet Kevin's own version of Tyler Durden…
Extra: I've created a fanvideo to go along with the fic. I've actually been sitting on a version of this for ages, but as it came out kind of spoilery, I couldn't actually share a link until now.
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 2,375
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full warnings and details in main post.
PREV: Interlude 7 // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 8
Recap: The Company files on their suspect, Konrad Reichardt, were delivered by Hiro Nakamura. Beckett, Castle and Bennet managed to learn the full details of Reichardt's place in Company history, his ties to the immortal sociopath Adam Monroe, and his involvement in Zimmerman's dismissal from the Company. Finally, they managed to uncover a photograph of their suspect, revealing Reichardt's startling resemblance to Kevin Ryan.
Using the profile in Reichardt's files, Lanie confirmed a genetic match between Ryan and Reichardt, seeming to prove that the two men were one in the same. For obvious reasons, Kevin and Javier have both been taken off the case. Meanwhile, Bennet enlisted Peter Petrelli to help understand this bizarre mystery, and while Peter and Hiro traveled to LA to acquire Matt Parkman's telepathic abilities, Sylar took it upon himself to use their unique common ground to convince Ryan to allow Reichardt to be brought to the surface for questioning...
Chapter Eleven: Exit, Stage Left
If your mirror be broken, look into still water; but have a care that you do not fall in.
—Hindu Proverb
If Javier hadn't already begun to hate Bennet, this would have been enough. And if he might have potentially appreciated the man discussing the idea with him first, in private, it was immediately offset by the feeling that it was less consideration on Bennet's part than a tactic of divide-and-conquer.
"When we start," Bennet was saying, "I want Peter and Ryan to be the only ones in that room."
"Try again," Javier said, not bothering to disguise his displeasure with the idea. "You as much as said when you showed up that this wasn't your rodeo. You're not about to take the reins now."
"It may not be, detective, but it's also not my first," Bennet told him, coolly. "I've been handling specials since you were a kid playing cops-and-robbers, so whatever your personal opinion of me—whyever you have it—I would appreciate the respect due that fact at least."
Bennet paused, shifting his demeanor as he met Javier's glare evenly. When he continued his voice was nothing so condescending as gentle, thank God, but there was a surprising note of respect not previously heard.
"I know Ryan is a colleague of yours and probably a friend, but Reichardt is an unknown quantity," Bennet told him levelly. "I've seen an empathic mimic absorb dozens of abilities within only a few short months. Reichardt worked at the Company for decades. That put him in contact with an unknown number of potentially very dangerous abilities, and even with his own ability crippled, that is not a threat to be taken lightly."
As little as he liked that—Kevin being considered a threat—it was a difficult argument to challenge very easily, and Javier came up with nothing right away.
"He's not just a colleague," Javier finally managed after a few moments, voice tense with...apart from anger, he wasn't sure just what. "Not just a friend. He's my partner. I have to be there for him—"
His voice froze in his throat, the words "'til the wheels fall off" nearly escaping his lips.
It was Kevin's phrase from just over a year ago when it had been Javier being pulled down by the weight of past demons. Words promising him that, no matter what, Kevin had his back. Kevin's current situation went far so beyond going off books to clear Ike's name that it needed a passport, and Javier felt like his axle had been scraping pavement since the moment he laid eyes on that photograph—if not long before. Still he was determined to meet the challenge all the same.
Anything else just wasn't a physical possibility.
Bennet regarded him carefully then, something flickering briefly in those cool eyes that, if Javier hadn't known better, might have looked oddly like guilt.
"I'm not trying to shut your people out of this," Bennet said finally. "If it were at all possible to avoid it, I wouldn't choose to put Peter in that position either, but precautions need to be taken where at all possible. If you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to discuss with Detective Beckett."
Bennet slipped away quickly, leaving Javier feeling dismissed whatever his intent.
Kevin was at his desk when Javier found him, phone lifted to his ear, and though he didn't get close enough to listen in it was obvious from the soft, careful tones of his voice that his partner was talking to Jenny. Even standing out of earshot, it was impossible not to try and imagine the conversation, though what Kevin might have chosen to say to her Javier couldn't even begin to guess.
And, as Javier watched Kevin locking away his personal effects—gun and badge, phone, wallet—it was just as impossible not to see the act as painfully symbolic.
Javier caught his partner's eye a moment later and tried to offer him a reassuring smile, though the feeling was only half there, and he could tell Kevin knew it. The walk to interrogation was a silent one, Javier following behind with a hand resting lightly on his partner's shoulder. Offering comfort, but just as much to reassure himself that Kevin was still there. In a few minutes, Javier knew, he wouldn't be, and it took nearly all his effort not to tighten his grip. Nothing could have made the situation okay, but Javier thought he was as prepared as he could ever be. Still, when they entered the interview room and he saw the shackles—fixed to a bolt on the underside of the table—he nearly balked.
As he went about the impossible task of placing his best friend and partner in chains, Javier made good use of his time...
"Bro, you don't have to do this."
Kevin's eyes, which had been resting uncertainly on his reflection in the mirror across the room, flickered to his, and he offered a weak smile.
"Yeah, Javi, I do," Kevin told him quietly. "I'm a suspect. I might be our killer. You can't just ignore that, sweep it under the rug and pretend it's not there. I can't either. Javier..."
His partner paused, wetting his lips.
"I'm scared to death of what happens next," Kevin admitted, though his voice was remarkably steady considering the circumstances. "But it's like that stupid metaphor about the cat in the box that Castle likes so much—its not really dead or alive until you get a peek inside, even though you know it can really only be one or the other."
"I'm guilty or I'm innocent," Kevin told him, with more certainty in his voice and his gaze than Javier had seen since the whole thing began. "It's one or the other, but I can't not know."
Javier looked away first, though he nodded faintly. He had to accept that, he knew. He just really wished it were otherwise. Javier finished with the cuffs, and for a moment neither one of them could manage to look at anything else. After a long, quiet while staring at the cold metal around his wrists, his partner spoke again.
"Javier, I want you to promise me something."
"No, Kev," he interrupted quickly. "Do not pull this kind of crap on me, I swear to God—"
Kevin shook his head.
"I'm not— Nothing like that," Kevin clarified quickly, stopping for a moment to recollect his thoughts. "Just... Please. Promise me you'll do whatever it takes to make sure no one gets hurt."
And that needed no clarification. Kevin needed to know that he—that Reichardt—wouldn't be allowed to hurt anyone.
"I promise," Javier agreed slowly, looking Kevin squarely in the eye, "but you know what? It's not going to matter. I am not letting you out of my sight. And that's a promise too, okay?"
"Okay," Kevin confirmed steadily, and the ferocious trust that Javier saw looking back at him made something twist in his stomach.
Glancing at the door, Javier couldn't seem to make himself move. The situation just begged...more. More what he didn't know, exactly, but Javier refused to say any kind of goodbye. Kevin was coming back. Javier knew that—he just had to remember that he knew that. When he finally stood, Javier slapped his partner's shoulder, the casual gesture startling Kevin faintly. Any other time, his surprised expression might have been funny.
"See you soon, Kev."
Kevin managed a short nod, and Javier offered a measured smile. Then he stepped out into the hall, letting Peter Petrelli in to do...whatever the hell it was the man was going to do to his partner. Javier had to take a deep breath before joining the others in the observation room. His sanity was teetering just close enough to the edge that the enclosed space might have tipped him over completely.
Entering the booth, Javier frowned as he squeezed past the man who had arrived with Petrelli.
Gabriel.
Apparently Gabriel felt he had a stake in Kevin's well-being. Javier wasn't sure how he felt about that. There was something unsettling about the man, something Javier hadn't felt around any of the other specials he'd so far encountered.
Javier remembered watching uneasily from the window as Gabriel had spoken with his partner. Whatever they had talked about, it had somehow convinced Kevin that he had to do this. Javier's feelings on that subject were much less of a mystery. Of course, Javier hadn't been the only one attentive to that conversation. Bennet had stood very close by, watching with a focus so narrow it could almost have cut the glass. It had brought to his mind a portion of the future he had glimpsed, when Agent DiNozzo and his partner had exchanged words concerning Bennet's issues with someone of the same name. While it was entirely possible that they had been talking about another Gabriel, he doubted it.
Like Bennet, Javier was beginning to lose faith in the concept of coincidence.
As he passed, Gabriel cast him a speculative glance that somehow managed to seem both surprised and knowing. Javier didn't know how to interpret it, so he tried to put it out of his mind. He resolved to be wary around the man, however. It didn't take a detective to guess that if the guy somehow made Bennet uneasy, Gabriel wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
Taking another slow breath, Javier set his back to the wall, letting it support him as he watched Petrelli settle into the chair across from his partner. Seeing Kevin sitting there on the wrong side of the table, anxious and in chains, only served to heighten the painful surreality of the situation they found themselves in. It was like a nightmare. Javier's only consolation was the dubious mercy of knowing there had never been anything he could have done. It was a no-win scenario, but one which had been hanging over their heads for as long as they had known each other. And, while his own unusual circumstances made it impossible for Javier to say he hadn't seen it coming, at the very least he could accept that, if he still hadn't found them a way out of this situation eight years from now, there wasn't one to be had.
Distracted by the storm of dread and confusion in his mind, Javier gave himself credit that he didn't flinch when Peter Petrelli's voice buzzed from the speakers inside the booth.
"When I start," Peter said, "I want you to close your eyes and think about a place you feel safe and relaxed. Talk to me about it. It should be place that belongs to you. Some memory Reichardt wouldn't share."
Kevin looked at the other man, eyebrows raised with vague, skeptical surprise.
"You want me to find my happy place?" Kevin said, amusement leaking into his voice despite the tension. "Are you serious? Then what? Do I find my power animal and slide?"
Javier wasn't surprised when Castle let out a startled snort, and Peter let out a soft, sympathetic laugh of his own.
"If it worked for Edward Norton…"
Javier couldn't see Peter's face as he said it, but his partner managed a feeble smile. Kevin lifted his eyes to the mirror past Peter's shoulder, though whether it was his reflection he was searching out or those he knew lay behind it Javier couldn't begin to guess. Then, readying himself with a slow breath, Kevin closed his eyes.
"Uh, home, I guess?" Kevin said, uncertainly. "My apartment, I mean. I've been there for about…maybe four years, so I'm pretty sure—"
Kevin cut off, and Javier could see the confusion writing itself over his features again. While a large part of his past had been laid bare to them, it was still uncertain for how much of the life he remembered it had actually been him.
"Go on," Peter encouraged gently. Kevin wet his lips, nodding before he continued.
"It's kind of small. I mean, it's not ridiculous but I could probably do better on a detective's salary. It's actually got a decent view, though—nothing you'd put on postcards, but it's a nice street. I think I'd rather have that than a few extra square feet. I think it's cozy, though whenever I say that Jenny always rolls her eyes, and Javier just thinks I'm nuts."
Halting and uncertain at first, the words gradually came more freely, and Kevin even ticked a faint smile at that last.
"It's not even as small as they make out, it just looks that way because of the couch. It's a bit over-sized, but it's comfortable. Broken in." Kevin smiled lightly. "I picked it up off the curb. Roadkill recycling offends Javi's delicate sensibilities, but its a perfectly reasonable strategy for interior decorating."
Javier found himself letting out a tense laugh in spite of himself.
"He made a big fuss when I first told him that, but he never had a problem with it before that, and it despite his protests it didn't exactly keep him from coming over after. I mean, we both know who has the superior roost where video games are concerned..."
Kevin continued on, but Javier found it difficult to focus on what he was saying. The pace of the words had begun to slow again, though not like before. They came out sluggishly now and there was an odd softness that had crept into his partner's tone that seemed oddly distant. Finally the words ran out and Kevin sat there, completely silent. The worried lines that had been etched into his forehead had smoothed as well, and his face was left almost entirely slack. Like he was sleeping.
And Javier hadn't even realized it, but a part of him had still been holding on desperately to a faint, tortured spark of hope. Hope that Petrelli might turn around and tell them that somehow this had all been some sort of bizarre mistake. But that final, tragic spark was ground out quickly by the unmistakeable proof of what Javier saw next. His partner rocked forward as a light shudder passed through his body, and then—
And then the small cut on Kevin's forehead healed.
The sight left Javier speechless and numb, and a few others in the booth stirred as well. He heard Kate's gasp, and Bennet's posture stiffened visibly, and Castle was left staring, wide eyed. And in the interrogation room, Peter finally turned around to look at them through the mirror.
"I've got him."
PREV: Interlude 7 // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 8
Author's Note: Apologies to anyone who didn't get the Fight Club reference, but I honestly couldn't help it.
There's going to be a bit of a hiatus in between this chapter and the next, though we'll see a few interludes (some of which are even relevant, so keep an eye out).
And in Chapter 12, Javier and the others get to meet Kevin's own version of Tyler Durden…
Extra: I've created a fanvideo to go along with the fic. I've actually been sitting on a version of this for ages, but as it came out kind of spoilery, I couldn't actually share a link until now.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: Saturday, 28 January 2012 11:55 pm (UTC)From:... Keviiiiin
no subject
Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 05:08 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 04:07 pm (UTC)From:What does it say about me that, mirror or no mirror, I always go look with the intent of falling?
Again with the Alice in Wonderland.
Ugh. I keep being interupted in my reading by spam comments being posted on my lj. Seriously, in the past 2-3 days, around 20.
Do you have that too or did I somehow fall on a bot's radar?
Kevin using the Shröedinger's cat metaphor. Castle would be so proud. ^^
Kevin telling Peter about his appartment was cute. So like him. It's touching to see how everything in his life finds a way to relate back to Javier.
Heck, maybe, as he picture his 'happy place', Javier's in it, like he's a part of the picture.
Guh... I hope we get him back soon.
This is really mean, you know that? I'm going to cheer you on SO BADLY, that you'll be up all night writing if you have to. For FEAR of more cheering.
no subject
Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 06:15 pm (UTC)From:Kevin using the Shröedinger's cat metaphor. Castle would be so proud. ^^
Hee. The metaphor begged, but I couldn't see Kevin using it quite as slickly as Castle might have done. Stupid cat metaphor. XD
Peter's view of Kevin's happy place is the next interlude, so, you'll get to see (you're not far off, but...it's complicated).
no subject
Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 06:27 pm (UTC)From:I had a t shirt a while back. I'd painted this sort of electrified ball of fur cartoon cat, zombie like... And he was coming towards you sparking from all sides. Like in the cartons, you see?
And it read 'The revenge of Schrödinger's cat'. I was so sad when it stopped fitting me and I had to pass it on. :(
Whee! I'm so curious. Post it. Now! *COMPELLS*
Shit, not. That's TVD.
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Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 08:30 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Monday, 30 January 2012 10:24 pm (UTC)From:I am currently rewatching Punked. And I'm thinking that when Castle finds out about Javier's power... or has a chance to react to Hiro's...
He has to at least say 'time ripple' once. And claim that "See?!! I was right!" "No, Castle. You weren't. Not then." "But it was possible."
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Date: Tuesday, 31 January 2012 02:20 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:03 am (UTC)From:But since Castle is my fandom du jour, I'm just going to say that you've got Castle, Beckett's and Esposito's voices down to a T. Oddly, despite being perhaps my favorite of them all, Ryan's is always a voice I have trouble hearing outside of the show, but I'm sure he must be about perfect, too. I've really been looking for good Ryan fic, and this has really fit the bill. Can't wait for more.
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Date: Thursday, 16 February 2012 06:42 pm (UTC)From:And I'm glad it reads well without a ton of Heroes knowledge. I try and write it as much as possible from the POV of the Castle characters, so that all the important weirdness is covered explaining it to them. It's...handy.
Ryan does tend to feel like something of a cypher sometimes. I mean, I love him, but even on the show lot of his personality seems to be tied up in stereotypes (geek, Irish, absurdly whipped boyfriend...), that he comes off almost cartoony sometimes.
Huh. I think that's even partly why I wound up writing this story...in a twisted sort of way.
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Date: Friday, 27 July 2012 03:30 am (UTC)From:I loved the Fight Club reference. Great movie.
Also, I was practically bouncing up and down at the beginning about how Peter could take Konrad's power and be semi-powered-up again!
Oh, and pet peeve of mine: "reins", not "reigns".
I really love this!
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Date: Friday, 27 July 2012 04:07 am (UTC)From:Also, I was practically bouncing up and down at the beginning about how Peter could take Konrad's power and be semi-powered-up again!
I've thought about this, too, but it may have to wait. After all, Peter needs to keep telepathy long enough to put Konrad back in the box, and if he copies Konrad's ability he won't have it anymore.
Now, whether or not after that's done Peter could copy that ability... Well we'll see.