Title: Reaching out
Author: shallowness
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Molly, Micah

Spoilers: Early season 3
Summary: Gen. Angst.

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, and I make no profit from this fan-written fiction.
Author's Note: 443 words. I’d love to be Jossed on this. Big thanks to marenpaisley for beta reading this. All errors are mine.

Reaching out: shallowness

 

She picks up the phone on the second ring, forgetting to check that it is Matt or Mohinder like she promised Matt she would.

"Hey," he says as she inhales.

"Micah!? How did you--" she checks herself, because she knows how. She can find anyone anywhere, and he can find anyone with a cell phone, even a phone that still smells new, with a number only two people in the world are meant to have. She didn't think about that when she was bundled out of her home with this cell phone that was the last thing they added to her bag. "That's a dumb question, isn't it? How are you?"

He's quiet, so she repeats his name, her fears filling in the gap.

"My mom died," he says, and she grips the phone, her insides plummeting, her mind going back…

"Oh, Micah," she whispers. "I'm so very sorry," and the tears are forming, and she feels the first drop about to fall over. She remembers Micah’s mom: tall, strong Niki, who held her at Kirby Plaza, and who must have made sure Micah’s school bag was packed, who ruffled his hair, who loved him like his dad loved him.

"Yeah, thanks," he says. Stupid words. She wishes she was there, knows she could see him in her mind's eye if she concentrated, but she wishes hard that she could somehow transport herself right there and hold him, because words don't feel like they're enough.

"When did it happen?"

"A few days ago. She--she saved my cousin. She was a real hero."

Molly's cheeks are more wet than dry now, and she wipes both with her free hand. Telling her these facts, he sounds like he's stuck in a closet, like she once was.

"You must be proud."

"Yeah."

But the pride isn't enough, she knows, because death grabbed his mom and his dad, and they're not there, they won't be there to hold him again. And the world is a big, dark place. It’s emptier than she could ever have  imagined that it would be. People thought they could fill that emptiness by saying things that she could barely believe, what they thought were the 'right things' to say. Except she was a kid and her parents were dead.

But people still kept talking at her. And in those stupid words, there was love and hope and strength, and Micah called her, so he went to the effort to find her to do that. She has to say something.

"But it still hurts, right?"

He's quiet, but Molly keeps talking, and at the other end of the line, Micah listens.

Fin.

Feedback is loved.

 

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