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Title: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 1,569
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: Chapter Twenty-One // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Two: Honor Thy Father
Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again.
—Kurt Vonnegut
Even at his brightest and most determined, Kevin would have been hard pressed to keep up a conversation against the mood Javier was in right now. Konrad clearly had too much on his own mind to even try. The immortal had eventually given up the ghost—as it were—and fallen to playing around with Javier's phone to keep himself distracted and entertained. Which was as bizarre in one sense as it was predictable in another—after all, Konrad had a lot of catching up to do.
Javier wasn't trying to be difficult, of course. The situation was simply too much for him to easily deal with.
Three hours wasn't that long, all things considered, but it was a damned long time to be trapped in a car with his fears and his doubts—and with Konrad, just inches away. Three hours sharing space he couldn't escape from with a man who negated his best friend's existence just by being. For his own sanity, Javier had spent most that time vainly trying to not to think about Konrad's presence—or his partner's absence—and definitely not about the thoughts which had snuck up on him hours before.
If it had been unsettling at first to imagine himself in a romantic relationship with Kevin, this was—well, he would have wanted to call it unthinkable. Only clearly it wasn't. A betrayal, though, certainly, and one that Javier, in his present moment, couldn't begin to fathom...
Javier had to believe he was wrong. He had to believe it was a mistake on his own part, a misunderstanding—something. He had to have tragically misread the details, because doubting Kevin's identity in that time meant doubting his own. That was the only way Javier could think of it. Because if that visitor from his future—the man who slipped him clever notes, the one who had smiled at him in those photographs back in June—if that man had married Konrad and just let Kevin fade out of existence...
If that were the case, then whatever the appearance, there was no way that man was Javier at all.
With the exception of a few brief and quickly abandoned exchanges—many of which had been surreal and absurdly nerve-wracking ("The President's Hawaiian? Hawaii's not even a real state.")—and hourly calls from Kate checking in that Javier was still alive, the drive had mostly progressed in silence.
They reached their destination just past four in the morning. The Harbor Watch Shop was located, unsurprisingly, near the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. According to the information Kate had found, Martin Gray lived in the same building in an apartment just above it. Though it was ungodly early, Javier had weighed their options and decided not to wait. He thought that if he tried—if he delayed this any longer than necessary—he would slowly go insane.
That, or Konrad would beat him to it.
The air was freezing as they stepped out of the car. The sweatshirt he had been wearing underneath his jacket barely managed to make it tolerable. Javier refused stubbornly to feel thankful for that—to feel thankful for anything his future self might have done to prepare him for Konrad's escape, not when he could have stopped it.
Javier was brought up short in the midst of his thoughts when Konrad absently held something in front of his face. A pair of gloves, Javier realized belatedly—his own, forgotten in his jacket. For a few slow, stupid seconds he could only stare at them numbly before he accepted them in silence.
As he put them on, Javier took a few moments to observe Konrad discreetly from the corner of his eye. The immortal was staring at the building in front of them with a blank, desolate expression. Javier half thought Konrad might be looking forward to this even less than he was.
"You ready?" Konrad asked distantly as Javier settled himself.
Javier gave a weak snort.
"Are you?"
Konrad didn't answer or even look at him, but after a few moments and a slow breath he finally moved forward, and Javier followed. The stairs and hallway leading to the apartment were dark, and close, and forced Konrad and himself into a claustrophobic proximity that threatened to unravel what little calm Javier had left. Once they reached the door it had taken a whole lot of knocking for them to get an answer—seconds which had ticked by far too slowly, somehow managing to leave him feeling both trapped and exposed.
Konrad stood to the side of the door as Javier waited, out of easy sight.
Finally, the door opened. The man Javier saw on the other side of it was in his mid-sixties, thin faced with grey hair and a receding hairline. He peered out at Javier from behind a pair of dark-framed glasses, his eyes narrowed in undisguised suspicion.
Javier's mind labored to process for a moment. He had known, of course—intellectually, he had known how old Konrad was, and that Adam was even older than that. He had known how old Martin was, because he had been there and listened as Konrad had given that information to Kate. He had known those things, and thought he understood them. Yet seeing Martin standing in front of him was somehow very different, and made the whole thing feel inescapably real.
The man in front of Javier was close to his father's age, and Konrad had raised him as his son.
"Well?" Martin demanded gruffly.
Still mute in his confusion, Javier was saved from having to come up with anything.
"Martin?"
Javier heard Martin's breath catch as Konrad spoke his name, and saw his mouth flatten out into an unpleasant line when Konrad stepped into view. Martin looked him over slowly, unease visible in his face and posture as he took a step back from the door.
"So," Martin finally said. "You are still alive then."
Konrad looked away briefly, taking a slow breath.
"Please... We need to talk."
Martin seemed to debate with himself for a moment. Finally he relented with a weary frown, stepping aside to allow them to enter. Javier followed Konrad inside uncertainly. He was still anxious at the thought of letting the immortal out of his sight, but felt awkward at his intrusion nonetheless. Martin spared him a perturbed glance, looking as if he might ask, though he clearly thought better of it, refocusing his attention on Konrad.
"It's been more than twenty years since I've even heard from you," Martin said, taking his seat in a shabby looking armchair. "What's changed?
"I heard about Sam," Konrad said, voice soft and cautious, as if he might hurt himself if he wasn't careful. "Is it true? Is he...?"
"Lung cancer," Martin confirmed quietly after an empty pause. "Terminal."
"Is there anything, that can be done?" Konrad asked desperately. "A transplant? Something?"
And Javier could fully believe the man would have cut whatever was needed from his own body where he stood if it would do any good, but Martin shook his head.
"It's spread too far," Martin said. "He's got maybe a month. Probably less."
Javier watched Konrad take that in, his face twisting painfully for just a second before he drew in a shaking breath. A moment passed in which he barely moved, and then he exhaled with a shallow nod.
"Where is he?" Konrad asked.
Martin removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes tiredly before he rose to his feet.
"I was the only living family they had on record," Martin finally said, returning the glasses to his nose with a sigh, "so when it got bad enough I had him moved to a hospice here in the city."
He disappeared briefly into an adjoining room, returning moments later with a small slip of paper. Martin frowned deeply as he looked at it, lifting his eyes to look up at Konrad once again.
"It'll be over soon," Martin said, sounding strangely decisive. "Thank God. I loved him growing up, but this is the last I want to have to do with him. Or his son. Or you."
And though his voice sounded very weary, it also sounded certain.
"I never really knew what you were," Martin said suddenly. "Maybe you are one of those specials they talk about on the news, I don't know. But there's something about you, about Sam and that kid of his. Something unnatural. Something sick. And I don't want any part of it anymore."
He held the paper out to Konrad, his expression cold.
"Go," Martin said. "Say your goodbyes to Sam. Consider this ours. However many years I have left, I don't want to see you again."
Konrad's face was pale as he took the paper from him, and his lips parted briefly as if he wanted to speak. Finally, Konrad managed a faint nod, and still silent turned wordlessly for the door. Sparing Martin only a glance, Javier followed.
As they headed back to the car, Konrad stopped once a few feet ahead of him, the paper clutched tightly in his hand. While Javier couldn't see his face, there was so much tension in Konrad's body that he nearly shook from it. Javier watched the moment creep past in silence, the pause charged yet oddly hesitant. After a few moments, however, Konrad seemed to shake himself out of it, and continued down the stairs.
As they drove away, Javier found himself inexplicably relieved when Konrad didn't look back.
PREV: Chapter Twenty-One // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Twenty-Three
Author's Note: Very observant (or bored) readers may notice that a line from Ch. 20 snuck away and jumped into this chapter. It felt out of place there, but fit snugly at home into this one, so I decided not to bitch about it and just made the change.
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 1,569
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: Chapter Twenty-One // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Two: Honor Thy Father
Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again.
—Kurt Vonnegut
Even at his brightest and most determined, Kevin would have been hard pressed to keep up a conversation against the mood Javier was in right now. Konrad clearly had too much on his own mind to even try. The immortal had eventually given up the ghost—as it were—and fallen to playing around with Javier's phone to keep himself distracted and entertained. Which was as bizarre in one sense as it was predictable in another—after all, Konrad had a lot of catching up to do.
Javier wasn't trying to be difficult, of course. The situation was simply too much for him to easily deal with.
Three hours wasn't that long, all things considered, but it was a damned long time to be trapped in a car with his fears and his doubts—and with Konrad, just inches away. Three hours sharing space he couldn't escape from with a man who negated his best friend's existence just by being. For his own sanity, Javier had spent most that time vainly trying to not to think about Konrad's presence—or his partner's absence—and definitely not about the thoughts which had snuck up on him hours before.
If it had been unsettling at first to imagine himself in a romantic relationship with Kevin, this was—well, he would have wanted to call it unthinkable. Only clearly it wasn't. A betrayal, though, certainly, and one that Javier, in his present moment, couldn't begin to fathom...
Javier had to believe he was wrong. He had to believe it was a mistake on his own part, a misunderstanding—something. He had to have tragically misread the details, because doubting Kevin's identity in that time meant doubting his own. That was the only way Javier could think of it. Because if that visitor from his future—the man who slipped him clever notes, the one who had smiled at him in those photographs back in June—if that man had married Konrad and just let Kevin fade out of existence...
If that were the case, then whatever the appearance, there was no way that man was Javier at all.
With the exception of a few brief and quickly abandoned exchanges—many of which had been surreal and absurdly nerve-wracking ("The President's Hawaiian? Hawaii's not even a real state.")—and hourly calls from Kate checking in that Javier was still alive, the drive had mostly progressed in silence.
They reached their destination just past four in the morning. The Harbor Watch Shop was located, unsurprisingly, near the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. According to the information Kate had found, Martin Gray lived in the same building in an apartment just above it. Though it was ungodly early, Javier had weighed their options and decided not to wait. He thought that if he tried—if he delayed this any longer than necessary—he would slowly go insane.
That, or Konrad would beat him to it.
The air was freezing as they stepped out of the car. The sweatshirt he had been wearing underneath his jacket barely managed to make it tolerable. Javier refused stubbornly to feel thankful for that—to feel thankful for anything his future self might have done to prepare him for Konrad's escape, not when he could have stopped it.
Javier was brought up short in the midst of his thoughts when Konrad absently held something in front of his face. A pair of gloves, Javier realized belatedly—his own, forgotten in his jacket. For a few slow, stupid seconds he could only stare at them numbly before he accepted them in silence.
As he put them on, Javier took a few moments to observe Konrad discreetly from the corner of his eye. The immortal was staring at the building in front of them with a blank, desolate expression. Javier half thought Konrad might be looking forward to this even less than he was.
"You ready?" Konrad asked distantly as Javier settled himself.
Javier gave a weak snort.
"Are you?"
Konrad didn't answer or even look at him, but after a few moments and a slow breath he finally moved forward, and Javier followed. The stairs and hallway leading to the apartment were dark, and close, and forced Konrad and himself into a claustrophobic proximity that threatened to unravel what little calm Javier had left. Once they reached the door it had taken a whole lot of knocking for them to get an answer—seconds which had ticked by far too slowly, somehow managing to leave him feeling both trapped and exposed.
Konrad stood to the side of the door as Javier waited, out of easy sight.
Finally, the door opened. The man Javier saw on the other side of it was in his mid-sixties, thin faced with grey hair and a receding hairline. He peered out at Javier from behind a pair of dark-framed glasses, his eyes narrowed in undisguised suspicion.
Javier's mind labored to process for a moment. He had known, of course—intellectually, he had known how old Konrad was, and that Adam was even older than that. He had known how old Martin was, because he had been there and listened as Konrad had given that information to Kate. He had known those things, and thought he understood them. Yet seeing Martin standing in front of him was somehow very different, and made the whole thing feel inescapably real.
The man in front of Javier was close to his father's age, and Konrad had raised him as his son.
"Well?" Martin demanded gruffly.
Still mute in his confusion, Javier was saved from having to come up with anything.
"Martin?"
Javier heard Martin's breath catch as Konrad spoke his name, and saw his mouth flatten out into an unpleasant line when Konrad stepped into view. Martin looked him over slowly, unease visible in his face and posture as he took a step back from the door.
"So," Martin finally said. "You are still alive then."
Konrad looked away briefly, taking a slow breath.
"Please... We need to talk."
Martin seemed to debate with himself for a moment. Finally he relented with a weary frown, stepping aside to allow them to enter. Javier followed Konrad inside uncertainly. He was still anxious at the thought of letting the immortal out of his sight, but felt awkward at his intrusion nonetheless. Martin spared him a perturbed glance, looking as if he might ask, though he clearly thought better of it, refocusing his attention on Konrad.
"It's been more than twenty years since I've even heard from you," Martin said, taking his seat in a shabby looking armchair. "What's changed?
"I heard about Sam," Konrad said, voice soft and cautious, as if he might hurt himself if he wasn't careful. "Is it true? Is he...?"
"Lung cancer," Martin confirmed quietly after an empty pause. "Terminal."
"Is there anything, that can be done?" Konrad asked desperately. "A transplant? Something?"
And Javier could fully believe the man would have cut whatever was needed from his own body where he stood if it would do any good, but Martin shook his head.
"It's spread too far," Martin said. "He's got maybe a month. Probably less."
Javier watched Konrad take that in, his face twisting painfully for just a second before he drew in a shaking breath. A moment passed in which he barely moved, and then he exhaled with a shallow nod.
"Where is he?" Konrad asked.
Martin removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes tiredly before he rose to his feet.
"I was the only living family they had on record," Martin finally said, returning the glasses to his nose with a sigh, "so when it got bad enough I had him moved to a hospice here in the city."
He disappeared briefly into an adjoining room, returning moments later with a small slip of paper. Martin frowned deeply as he looked at it, lifting his eyes to look up at Konrad once again.
"It'll be over soon," Martin said, sounding strangely decisive. "Thank God. I loved him growing up, but this is the last I want to have to do with him. Or his son. Or you."
And though his voice sounded very weary, it also sounded certain.
"I never really knew what you were," Martin said suddenly. "Maybe you are one of those specials they talk about on the news, I don't know. But there's something about you, about Sam and that kid of his. Something unnatural. Something sick. And I don't want any part of it anymore."
He held the paper out to Konrad, his expression cold.
"Go," Martin said. "Say your goodbyes to Sam. Consider this ours. However many years I have left, I don't want to see you again."
Konrad's face was pale as he took the paper from him, and his lips parted briefly as if he wanted to speak. Finally, Konrad managed a faint nod, and still silent turned wordlessly for the door. Sparing Martin only a glance, Javier followed.
As they headed back to the car, Konrad stopped once a few feet ahead of him, the paper clutched tightly in his hand. While Javier couldn't see his face, there was so much tension in Konrad's body that he nearly shook from it. Javier watched the moment creep past in silence, the pause charged yet oddly hesitant. After a few moments, however, Konrad seemed to shake himself out of it, and continued down the stairs.
As they drove away, Javier found himself inexplicably relieved when Konrad didn't look back.
PREV: Chapter Twenty-One // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Twenty-Three
Author's Note: Very observant (or bored) readers may notice that a line from Ch. 20 snuck away and jumped into this chapter. It felt out of place there, but fit snugly at home into this one, so I decided not to bitch about it and just made the change.
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Date: Monday, 17 September 2012 11:55 am (UTC)From:What a lovely thing to read this morning! I was wondering if Martin would mention Sam's son and if Konrad knew of Sylar. I'm itching to find out if Konrad knows of Sam's abilities, as well. Also, to see how you treat cancer + regeneration. Canon says that a person with regeneration will live forever, which implies that a common condition like cancer is something they'll never suffer from. But Noah said that Hiro's brain tumor couldn't be treated with Claire's blood. Then again, being treated by her blood might be very different than having an ability one's self. Just as there might be a difference between having an ability one's self (like Claire or Adam) and replicating it (like Sylar, Peter, or Konrad).
I'm strangely glad you had Martin be so definite. That whole family is a bit scary. Sylar ... really, he fits right in. As does Gabriel. Someone like Peter, though, just wouldn't. The Petrellis have a very different mindset, much more people-oriented and ideologically flexible.
Oh, and when I click your "Author's Note", it takes me back up to the top of the page.
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Date: Monday, 17 September 2012 06:15 pm (UTC)From:The note wasn't anything important, just pointing out that a sentence migrated from chapter twenty into this one.
Konrad knows about his grandson, but he wouldn't know of Sylar per se, because in 2006 and onward he was still Kevin.
I'm kind of split over whether Konrad ever encountered Sylar at the station. I've had an interlude in mind between Konrad and Gabriel when the latter is an adult, but having Konrad aware of his grandson's proximity to the case would probably change his reactions a great deal. So either I have to drop that interlude, or Sylar simply copied Kevin's DNA during their brief encounter, and he and Konrad never met. (And whether they will meet, in that latter scenario, is something else I'm debating.)
Konrad knows of Samson's murders, and I work off the assumption that he was able to theorize the reason behind them. That will see some covering in the next two chapters.
It gets brief mention in the upcoming chapter, but only very briefly. Regarding regeneration, I assume that once you have the ability cancer can't develop, but that if you already have cancer and then get the ability (or are exposed to an immortal's blood) that it doesn't know the difference between the cancer and the rest of the body. It either simply can't treat it, or else actively accelerates the growth of the cancer cells.
And then there's a third dimension to the interplay of the regeneration ability and cancer, but that actually would be giving some stuff away...
As for Martin, I think it mostly boils down to a sense of betrayal. He would have been fourteen or fifteen when Sarah kicked Konrad to the curb. The secrets being keeping were not small, I mean...fifteen years old, you find out that the man who has been raising you is actually some kind of mutant Nazi? That would be scary as hell...
But it wouldn't really change the rest of his life. So Martin's spent some effort mentally distancing himself. After all, Konrad wasn't his real father, and probably everything he thought he knew about the guy was a lie anyway... But there's still Sam, his brother, who can't deny the connection between himself and Konrad the same way (and, actually, never quite wanted to). So, while Martin loves his brother, his relationship with Samson feels poisoned, and when Samson's ability manifests, that only seems to confirm it.
They never state in canon exactly why Martin left his own family behind. They suggest that it was Virginia (which, really, I wouldn't blame him), but in my mind, to Martin, Gabriel was poisoned to, and he just couldn't handle it.