Fiction: The Mastermind Part 2

[kethni]

Name: The Mastermind Part Two

Pairing: Matt/Mohinder

Rating: R

Warnings: Violence, death of characters other than Matt & Mohinder

Word Count: Approx 10,600 words in total

For jaune_chat, I hope you like it!
Part one

‘Night Molly-doll,’ Matt says gently, kissing her on the forehead.

‘Night Matt,’ she says sleepily. ‘Matt?’

‘What is it sweetheart?’

‘Why won’t Mohinder let you buy him a car?’ she asks. ‘I heard him say he didn’t want you too.’

Matt sighs and sits down on the bed. ‘Do you remember we talked about having a work ethic? Earning your own money is important for your self-respect. Paying his own way is very important for Mohinder.’

Molly frowns and rubs her eyes with the heel of her hand. ‘You could just buy him a car as a present?’

‘I could do that and I would do that,’ Matt says carefully. ‘But it’s important to Mohinder that he pays his own way. I love Mohinder and I respect him. Respecting him means letting him make his own choices and not forcing any gifts on him.’

‘I don’t pay my own way.’

‘That’s because you’re ten,’ Matt says nicely. ‘We give you an allowance so that you can learn to manage your money for when you’re old enough.’

Molly chews her bottom lip. ‘Okay.’

‘You don’t want to one of those ladies relying on a man for everything, do you?’ Matt asks.

‘Nu-huh!’

‘What do you want to be?’ he prompts gently.

‘I want to be a strong, intelligent woman who is powerful in my own right,’ she says recites.

‘That’s my girl.’



‘Is she okay?’ Mohinder asks as Matt settles down next to him on the couch.

‘Yeah.’ Matt wraps his arms around his lover’s waist and nuzzles his neck. ‘While I was in India I ran into your dad.’

‘Really? A country the size of India and you just happened to “run into” him?’

‘Well, since he was the reason I was visiting India, yeah.’

Mohinder plays with one of Matt’s hands. ‘But it was a work thing?’

‘Absolutely. I just recruited him. From now on he’ll be working with a handler and everything will go through her.

‘Her, eh?’ Mohinder asks, raising his eyebrows. ‘Do I know her?’

‘Eden McCain, itty bitty brunette with huge brown eyes?’

‘The very young, very pretty girl with a tendency to short skirts and the power of persuasion?’

Matt laughs and nods. ‘Yup, that’s the one. She’s very good at what she does.’

Mohinder swings a leg over Matt’s leg. ‘Plus she’s very pretty which will no doubt make it much easier for my father to accept her. She’s the spoonful of sugar.’

‘She’s not part of the remuneration package,’ Matt says. ‘Does him working for me bother you?’

‘No, I don’t get involved in your business. I’m just a little surprised he agreed to it.’

‘To be honest I think he was gratified to be acknowledged as an expert. His reputation took such a battering after the book, and Primatech didn’t help,’ Matt says with a shrug. ‘It’s sad really.’

‘It baffles me that the people who call themselves “the good guys” consider perfectly fine to slander and defame a man who can’t hurt them in any way,’ Mohinder says heatedly.

‘Welcome to the twenty-first century, babe, the good guys can do all kinds of illegal and unethical things and somehow still call themselves the good guys,’ Matt says sadly. ‘It’s darn discouraging.’

Mohinder snorts and kisses Matt’s cheek. ‘So what do you want an expert in special abilities for? Why now I mean?’

‘I’ve got this regen locked up in a cell and you know my problem with keeping people locked up.’

Mohinder smiles slightly. ‘Oh, wait, I do know this. “The person you have locked in a cell today is a person who breaks out and helps the heroes tomorrow,” isn’t that it?’

‘Are you making fun of me?’ Matt scowls playfully and bites Mohinder’s ear. ‘I think you’re making fun of me.’

‘Shall we have an early night?’ Mohinder suggest, waggling his eyebrows.



Claire hobbles out of the van, scales the three ten foot brick walls, drags herself through the bramble hedge and then squints up at the floodlights completely illuminating the thirty-foot high security fence.

‘Oh man! Don’t they know they’re supposed to have moving floodlights so that you duck and roll?’ she complains.

‘Miss Bennet...’ Ando quavers as Claire moves closer to the fence. ‘The sign says the fence is...’

Claire slaps a hand onto the fence.

‘Electrified!’

Claire shakes and shudders as the voltage rattles through her.

‘Cheerleader!’ Hiro squeals, running around in circles.



Mohinder pulls a pillow over his head.

‘Shut up,’ he moans. ‘Shut up!’

The phone ignores him and keeps ringing.

‘Bastard,’ Mohinder groans, leaning over Matt’s solidly slumbering form to pick up the phone. ‘What?’ He sits up and shakes Matt with his free hand. ‘Hold the line just a moment.’

‘Whu...?’ Matt mutters, sitting up and blinking.

‘Apparently the agent you have watching Claire Bennet is reporting that she was trying to broach the fence.’ Mohinder shakes the phone vaguely. ‘They say she’s stuck to the fence.’

‘Darn,’ Matt says, trying to smooth down his hair. ‘That’s a ten thousand volt fence.’ He takes the phone, kisses Mohinder on the cheek, and climbs out of bed. ‘Sorry sweetheart.’

‘I hate your job,’ Mohinder mutters as he snuggles back into bed.

‘I love you too,’ Matt promises as he walks out into the corridor. ‘Good,’ he glances at a clock on the wall, ‘morning Audrey, is there a problem? Gosh. To a crisp you say?’



‘Hey there,’ Eden says, strolling into Chandra’s office. ‘I’m Eden McCain. Mr Parkman did tell you to expect me, right?’ she asks sweetly.

‘Oh... oh... hello,’ Chandra says, taking off his reading glasses to get a better look. ‘You’d be my “contact” would you?’

‘That would be me,’ she agrees, sitting on the edge of the desk. ‘I’m here to take your through orientation. Then we’ll look at working out some project timelines.’

‘I’m going to need some sort of testing facilities.’

‘Of course,’ she says easily. ‘We’ve got a team on the way to set up a nice little facility. They have the cutest little way of growing skin and organs for testing on.’

Chandra blinks at her. ‘Cloned biological material? Human material?’

Eden shrugs easily. ‘Naturally, we operate entirely without reliance on animal testing. Not only is it poor science, a person isn’t a rat or a rabbit, but it also tends to cast a pall over a facility. Don’t you think?’

‘Ugh well... I suppose...’

‘So,’ Eden says, clapping her hands together. ‘The first thing I need you to do is tell me the truth about where you’re up to with your research...’



Bennet puts his head in his hands. ‘She did what?’

Claude stalks to and fro, long, dirty coat trailing behind him.

‘She only picked up a teleporter and his buddy and went trying to break into The Mastermind’s bleeding compound!’ Claude announces.

Angela sighs and folds her hands together. ‘Unfortunately there’s a forcefield completely encircling the entire compound. It even goes underground.’

‘Getting her out is going to be bleeding impossible,’ Claude rants. ‘That’s assuming she’s not completely charcoal. Intel is it took them three hours to isolate that section of the fence to get her off.’

‘I’m surprised they didn’t leave her there as a warning to others,’ Angela says sitting back in her seat.

‘I rather imagine she was interfering with the electrical conductivity,’ Daniel Linderman says dryly. ‘Not to mention distracting minions.’

Bennet drops his hands onto the tabletop. ‘So what do we do?’



‘Good morning Ladies and Gents,’ Matt says cheerfully, wandering into the conference room, holding a mug with “World’s Greatest Dad” hand-painted on it. ‘How is everyone this fine sunny morning?’

The group around the table chorus variations on the chord of “Good morning” as Matt sits down.

‘Gosh, I hope I’m not late.’ Matt carefully puts his mug down on a coaster.

‘You’re bang on time,’ Monica says warmly. ‘Would you like a bagel?’

‘That’d be dandy, thank you Monica,’ Matt says, settling down. ‘Okay, Rene, it’s all yours. Do you want to start with status reports, or maybe the news?’

‘If it’s agreeable I would like to start with the events of last night,’ he says, clearing his throat. ‘In the early hours three individuals were spotted breaching the first exterior defences; a young, white female and two Asian males. The three were identified as Claire Bennet, Hiro Nakamura, and Ando Masahashi. They had reached the fence when Claire Bennet accidentally electrocuted herself.’

‘She’s dead?’ Elle asks. ‘I thought little Miss Perfect Cheerleader couldn’t be killed?’

‘She’s not dead,’ Rene says, annoyed. ‘If I could be allowed to continue without being interrupted?’

‘Then she wasn’t electrocuted!’ Elle says throwing her hands in the air. ‘This really gets my goat. I know from electricity and electrocuted is fatal, dead, done, lights out and good night. Anything else is electric shock.’

‘Well we live and learn, don’t we?’ Matt says brightly. ‘I’m sure we all appreciate your expertise, Elle. But, as a favour to me, do you think you could pop your hand up when you have a question or a comment? I’m sure Rene worked real hard writing up his briefing and we don’t want to put him off his stride now.’

Elle throws herself back in her chair. ‘Okay, fine,’ she pouts. ‘As a favour to you, boss.’

‘Carry on, Rene.’

Rene flicks through his notes quickly. ‘Miss Bennet was removed this morning with no loss of integrity to the fence. She’s in cellblock K. Gretchen says that she is healing but slowly. The others fled when the retrieval team approached. They are in sector four approaching zone two. It appears that they are attempting to find a way in through the fence.’

‘Question!’ Elle announces, thrusting a hand into the air.

‘What now?’ Rene asks.

‘Why didn’t we just shoot Claire and her merry marching band?’

‘Uh, because Barbie is a regen,’ Doyle says sarcastically.

Elle glares at him. ‘Well duh, but it might’ve slowed her down long enough for a team to get to her. Plus they would definitely have put down her boy toys. Why’re we letting them wander around the place?’

‘That’s a darn good question,’ Matt says, taking a bite of his bagel. Everyone waits silently while he chews and finally swallows. ‘Why are they wandering around out there when I’m pretty darn sure my standing orders are that intruders are to be shot on sight.’ He shrugs and leans back. ‘Unless I’ve specifically said otherwise.’

Rene straightens up and actually smiles. ‘I also wondered about that. According to the records, the night watch commander ordered them left alone. I checked her telephone calls, including her private numbers, and traced a number that she called after she was informed about the intruders but before she gave the order. The number is linked to a Primatech account.’

Matt glances at Monica. ‘That would be Maya? She joined us right out of school didn’t she? I think we put her through college.’

‘Yes sir,’ Monica confirms, fingers tapping at her laptop. ‘Four years of college and two years of graduate school.’

‘So a turncoat rather than a double agent,’ Matt says, shaking his head. ‘Darn it, I hate a traitor. That really hurts my feelings.’ He takes a sip of coffee and suddenly smiles. ‘But good work, Rene! Have you killed her yet?’

‘No, I thought you might wish to do it yourself. I have questioned her extensively though.’

‘Oh, that’s sweet. It’s that kind of thoughtfulness that really marks you out.’ Matt leans forward. ‘That’s dandy. Elle, do you think that after the meeting you could pop down to her cell and electrocute her? Nice and crispy so she’s unrecognisable. Maybe see if there’s some security camera footage so you can get her as crisped as Claire Bennet was?’

‘Sure thing!’

‘Monica, when that’s done can you arrange to ship the body to Primatech with our compliments? Maybe a little note expressing our surprise and regret that a few hours on the electric fence killed a regen,’ Matt suggests.

‘But Barbie isn’t dead,’ Doyle protests.

Matt doesn’t roll his eyes, unlike almost everyone else. ‘No, no she’s not,’ he says clearly. ‘But we’re going to pretend that she is in the hope that it distracts Primatech for a while. That okay with you, Doyle?’ He takes another sip of his coffee and then presses his free hand to his forehead. ‘Oh gosh, I’m terribly sorry,’ he says, leaning forward to touch Rene’s arm. ‘Please go on.’



‘Hey there,’ says the tall brunette. She’s dressed in a brown pinafore dress and her long, straight hair is hanging limply past her shoulders. ‘You look pretty good for someone who spent the night wrapped around an electric fence.’

Claire, completely naked and strapped down on her front with her legs spread wide, grits her teeth. ‘Leave me alone you freak.’

‘Aww, rough night?’ the brunette murmurs sympathetically. There’s a nasty snap of sound as she pulls on elbow length gloves. ‘I’m Gretchen by the way.’ She runs a begloved hand down Claire’s bare back. ‘Your skin is still smouldering a little.’

‘Don’t touch me!’

‘Oh, I can’t do that, Claire,’ Gretchen says, setting a large pot of Vaseline down by Claire’s waist. ‘You’ve to be searched.’ She straddles Claire’s back. ‘Don’t worry though, I’ll change gloves when I flip you over and search your girly parts.’



‘Why are we still here?’ Ando grumbles as he trudges along after Hiro.

‘We have to rescue Cheerleader and Peter!’ Hiro turns and glowers at Ando. ‘Should not have left her there!’

‘The bad men were coming. With guns!’ Ando argues. ‘Also her plastic suit was on fire.’ Ando sighs and puts his hands on his hips. ‘This is a waste of time.’

‘When bad men come I will stop time,’ Hiro says smugly.

‘Why did you not do that before?’

Hiro’s expression turns sheepish. ‘Did not think of it,’ he mutters.

Behind them, a security camera swivels and focuses on them.



Matt drums his fingers on the counter as he stares at the monitor on the screen.

‘I think I’ll have a little chat with our would-be invaders,’ he decides.

On the monitor, Hiro and Ando suddenly fall over and thrash on the ground screaming.



Claude stalks to and fro in the small room keeping his head turned to watch the monitor.

‘What’s happening?’ he demands, stopping and thumping the monitor with his hand.

‘Claude, this is a very expensive piece of equipment,’ Bennet says through gritted teeth. ‘Hijacking The Mastermind’s security feed was not simple, so please be patient.’

Bennet, Claude, and Linderman crowd around the monitor.

‘Have they inhaled hallucinogenic gas?’ Linderman asks.



You’re ordinary, Hiro. You’re just like everyone else.

You’ll always be alone, Ando.

You have always been a disappointment to me, Hiro.

Teeth! Teeth chasing!

Falling, screaming...



‘No,’ Bennet says flatly. ‘That’s The Mastermind, I’ve seen this before. He locks them in a kind of coma trapped with their own nightmares.’

‘Why does he bother?’ Claude asks. ‘Why doesn’t he just send a retrieval team out to grab up the pair of idiots?’

‘Look at the terrain,’ Bennet says, waving a hand. ‘They would’ve seen the team coming and Hiro would’ve stopped time but now... see there’s the retrieval team arriving now. They can just scoop up Hiro and Ando without a care in the world.’



‘Why aren’t you locking me up with Peter?’ Claire demands as she’s chained at the ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. The long, heavy chains are connected to the floor in the plush room in which she’s standing.

‘He’s not here sweetpea,’ Gretchen says lightly. ‘We never jail prisoners together. But the boss is on his way to have a chat with you and your little Japanese friends.’

Claire looks around the room. ‘This is his private sanctum?’ she asks incredulously. ‘It looks like a hotel room.’

Gretchen flirts with her hair. ‘That’s because it is a hotel room, silly! The Mastermind keeps a suite here.’ She giggles and rolls her eyes. ‘Honestly Claire! Did you really think he’d take you somewhere as potentially dangerous as his private office? Where’s your head?’

Claire squirms on the chair. ‘Don’t talk to me like we’re friends.’

‘We’re just girls together,’ Gretchen says cheerfully. She turns as someone knocks on the door. ‘Ooh, I wonder who this could be?’

Claire grits her teeth as Gretchen wanders off and, after checking, opens the door.

Rene walks in followed by Flint and Knox carrying Ando, while Ted and Usutu carry in Hiro.

‘Gosh, it’s like a party!’ Gretchen cheers. ‘Aren’t you excited, Claire?’

‘Gee, I’m thrilled.’

Ando and Hiro, dressed in prisoner’s uniforms, are chained at the necks, wrists, waists, and ankles, which restrict their thrashing. They continue screaming and moaning as they are laid into chairs and abandoned.

Rene carefully lays Hiro’s sword and tabard down on the table. He nods at the other men who silently leave, shutting the door behind them.

‘Great, so we’re just going to sit here?’ Claire complains.

‘Be quiet girl,’ Rene orders.

‘Hey! Do you have any idea of the shit I’ve been through in the last twenty-four hours?’ Claire retorts.

‘Whoa,’ says Matt, as he wanders into the room hand-in-hand with Molly. ‘Now is there any need for that kind of language, young lady?’ He shakes his head sadly. ‘It breaks my heart, it really does, and you with everything going for you.’ He meanders over to the table and picks up the scabbard with Hiro’s sword in it while Molly plonks herself down on a spare chair.

Opposite Claire, Ando and Hiro stop screaming abruptly and start to stir.

‘That woman stuck a camera up my ass!’ Claire protests.

Matt turns around to look at Claire. ‘Well, gosh, I’m sorry you were inconvenienced Miss Bennet but Primatech agents have a tendency to hide things up their tushies.’

Claire shifts on the chair. ‘I’m not a Primatech agent,’ she mutters.

Matt leans back against the table. ‘I have to say I am surprised,’ he says shaking his head. ‘A bright, plucky young woman like you should have a dazzling future ahead of her. If I was your dad I’d have you recruited lickety split.’ He winks at Molly. ‘I know I’m hoping my little girl will fulfil all her promise.’

Molly smiles smugly.

‘You would?’ Claire asks uncertainly. ‘What would you recruit me as?’

‘That’s something we’d have to work out. Initially I’d probably have you go through basic training,’ Matt says thoughtfully. ‘We have a whole raft of optional training and skills available both from the academic to the practical. Everyone has a special skill just waiting to be discovered, Claire.’ Matt gives her a bright, sunny smile. ‘No rush, you have a think about it.’ He turns to Hiro and Ando. ‘Gentlemen, you might find yourselves a little sore. We had to search you thoroughly, I’m sure you understand.’

‘You are a bad man!’

Matt nods easily. ‘I am a very bad man.’

‘Please sir,’ Ando says, wriggling forwards. ‘We are harmless. Lost tourists.’

Matt slowly draws Hiro’s sword from the scabbard. ‘Two harmless tourists carrying a katana sword,’ he muses, weighing the sword in his hand. ‘Gosh, I hate to think what you’d be carrying if you went to war.’

‘Not tourists! Heroes! We save Peter,’ Hiro says stoutly. ‘You are a very bad man.’

‘He repeats himself a ways doesn’t he?’ Matt says to Ando. ‘Yes, I’m a very bad man; can we take that as read?’

‘I will tell you nothing!’

Matt holds the sword up vertically. ‘Eh, I’m a telepath. I already got all the information from you I need.’ He frowns and leans closer. ‘Is this even sharp?’

Ando swallows and shifts position.

‘I, Hiro Nakamura, would rather die than help y...’

There’s a sound like a cleaver hitting a cantaloupe and a thump as Hiro’s decapitated head lands on the carpet.

‘I guess it was pretty sharp,’ Matt muses.

Molly jumps down off her chair and wanders over to the head. ‘Hey! He’s still alive,’ she protests, waving a hand. ‘Look his eyes are moving.’

‘Oh he’s not alive, sweetheart,’ Matt promises. ‘That’s just... darn, what’s it called, residual electrical activity is what that is. See, it’s stopped now.’

‘You killed him!’ Claire squeals, finally getting her voice back. Blood spray has spattered across her face and upper torso. ‘He’s chained up! He can’t use his power because you have the Haitian here!’

‘He said he’d rather die,’ Matt says mildly. ‘Darn, if I’m not supposed to take him at his word then what am I supposed to do? I happen to put a lot of store by my word.’

Claire licks her lips. ‘Look... I didn’t get your name?’

‘Gosh, I’m terribly sorry. How awfully rude of me. I’m Matt Parkman and this is my daughter Molly Walker.’ He puts a hand on Molly’s opposite shoulder and she leans against him.

‘Matt and Mohinder adopted me.’

‘Really how... sweet,’ Claire says desperately. ‘Look, Matt, you don’t have to kill me or lock me up in a big hole forever or whatever you were thinking of doing to me. I’m young, I’m pretty, and I’ll probably stay pretty a really long time.’ She smiles and flutters her eyelashes. ‘I’m sure you can think of better things to do with me.’

‘Oh, Miss Bennet, are you suggesting carnal knowledge?’

‘Yes, whatever! Take me to your bedchamber. All that stuff.’

Matt picks up a chair, carries it over to Claire, and sits down next to her. ‘And I suppose you’ll swing behind me one hundred percent just as long as I tell you all my plans?’

‘Um...’ Claire smiles weakly. ‘Yes?’

‘Molly, sweetheart, can you stop poking Hiro’s head?’

‘I wanted to take it to show and tell,’ she complains. ‘But now the eyes aren’t moving it’s kind of boring.’

Matt rubs his forehead. ‘I’m sorry Molls, but I’m pretty sure there are rules against taking decapitated heads into Show & Tell. They stink up something rotten and I think they’re probably pretty darn heavy. Now come here and tell me why I shouldn’t take Miss Bennet up on her offer of sleeping with me. Besides me being practically a married man.’

Molly screws up her face in thought. ‘Because when heroes do that it’s always a trick. They always either try to kill you or hand over all your information to the good guys.’

‘And?’ Matt prompts gently.

‘And... oh! No matter how attractive they are there will always be one of your minions or a member of the public at least as attractive and who won’t be actively plotting for your demise,’ she parrots.

‘Atta girl!’ Matt turns back to Claire. ‘Plus I’m pretty much old enough to be your dad.’

Claire licks her lips. ‘So... how did you get to be a supervillain?’

Matt smiles at her. ‘Oh, this is where I reveal my sad, sympathetic backstory which then reminds me of a younger time when I was innocent, naive, and full of hope?’

‘Well, that was the idea,’ Claire mutters.

‘I don’t have any tragic history, sorry,’ Matt says cheerfully. ‘I wasn’t the most academic kid but nothing terrible. I had some vague ideas about becoming a cop when I left school. Did you ever meet your granddaddy Petrelli? Arthur Petrelli?’

‘No, he died before I found out Nathan was my bio-dad.’

‘Oh, well, it was Arthur that got me into this line,’ Matt says, crossing his legs at the ankle. ‘He recruited me right out of school. I guess he saw something, some little spark that made him think I had a future in it. I learnt a lot from Arthur.’ Matt nudges Claire with his shoulder. ‘I learned a lot from him, including a lot about how not to do things. But we have to learn and if we can learn from other people’s mistakes as well as our own then so much the better.’ He waves a hand at Gretchen. ‘Gretchen, would you pop out into the hall and ask Monica to come inside? Thanks. You see Claire, I’m very grateful to your granddad for giving me a start and well, I like to do my bit for other people.’

Monica walks into the room and stands neatly on probably the only clean part of the carpet.

‘Did you want to see me, Matt?’ she asks nicely.

‘I was just explaining to Miss Bennet here how I came to be in this line of work. Would you mind telling her how you came to work in our little organisation?’

‘Of course,’ Monica says brightly, turning to Claire. ‘I was working in a burger bar when I manifested. I’m a muscle mimic. Initially I was contacted by Primatech. They claimed that they wanted to help me learn to use my ability but then they actually included me in a blind test to remove abilities. They told me I had vitamin deficiencies.’ She steps forward. ‘They were looking for ways to stop Sylar.’

‘You must’ve misunderstood,’ Claire says firmly.

‘Oh no, I’m sure,’ Monica says sweetly. ‘I was very lucky that I received the placebo.’ She shrugs and brushes a lock of hair back off her face. ‘When I found out the truth, my contact at Primatech gave me the big speech about the greater good and how my continuing to let them experiment on me helped that.’ She walks closer to Claire. ‘I’d always considered myself to be a good person. I obeyed all the rules. But you know, finding out what Primatech was trying to do, having that choice to make, it really opened my eyes,’ she says, and smiles brightly. ‘I found out that I’m not a “good” person, just a cowardly one following like a sheep. I’m selfish,’ she says with a shrug. ‘I didn’t agree to helping Primatech for the “greater good,” I ran.’ She gestures at Matt. ‘That’s when Mr Parkman, Matt, found me. He didn’t lie to me. He told me upfront we were working for ourselves against the greater good and you know, that was fine. When I started, there were suggestions that I might want to consider work as a primary agent, because of my ability. But during basic training we all did an administration rotation and I loved it. I do love it. So I work in administration. I work for Matt and I wouldn’t change it.’ She looks at Matt. ‘Is that okay?’

‘That’s dandy, Monica, thank you.’ Matt turns suddenly to Ando. ‘Would you rather die than work for me?’

‘No!’

Matt taps Molly’s nose. ‘Life is a precious thing Molly-doll and we only live a short time. So before you’re tempted to say you’d rather die, make sure you mean it.’ He looks back at Ando. ‘Computer bod, huh?’

‘Yes! Yes, I work with computers,’ Ando says frantically.

‘Gretchen, would you have one of the boys outside take Ando here to intake and see about getting him up and running?’ Matt wags a finger at Ando. ‘Three months trial and if you’re a naughty boy we might have to send you to join Hiro. Okay?’

‘Okay!’ Ando agrees frantically as Gretchen hauls him out.

‘Natural born follower,’ Matt says cheerfully when the door has closed behind them. He looks back at Claire. ‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If we were all leaders then there’d be a lot of people asking for coffee and nobody making it. Still, in his case it’s a survival trait.’ He looks at Claire. ‘So what do you think, Miss Bennet, could you have a future with us?’

‘As an agent, not a... coffee getting person?’ she asks cautiously. ‘No offense,’ she says to Monica.

‘Gosh, Miss Bennet, don’t underestimate the importance of a great assistant. But no, you would have a rotation of all departments during your training and that’d help you choose what you’re suited for and what you want to do.’

The door bangs open as Gretchen rushes back in, anxious not to miss anything.

Claire chews her lip. ‘What about Peter? Oh God, what about my dad?’

‘Well, that would be kind of a turn of luck for us I will be honest,’ Matt says, bumping shoulders with her. ‘The reason we went after Peter was the Nathan situation: sons and younger brothers coming after an organisation for killing daddy or big brother is an unfortunate cliché but one that tends to repeat.’ He shrugs apologetically. ‘I’m awful sorry for the sexism but in my experience it really does tend to be the case. Anyway, if you were to join our merry little band I can’t see Peter or your dad trying to blow the place up, even with you being a regen. What do you think?’

Claire shrugs. ‘Angela maybe. Angela probably. But without my dad helping she’d find it difficult.’

Matt taps his hands together. ‘Well, that’s my proposal then I guess. If you join us then we’ll send Peter back with a message, whatever. Of course you’ll be under a fair bit more monitoring than other recruits for a while.’

‘Can’t you read my mind and tell I’m serious?’

‘Gosh, I wouldn’t dream of purely taking my own word,’ Matt says with a wink.

Claire stares into space for a few seconds. ‘Then yes. Yes I accept.’

‘Now, let’s see about getting you a mentor to oversee your training, hold your hand, that kind of thing,’ Matt says, starting to unchain Claire.

‘Ooh! Ooh!’ Gretchen squeals, jumping up and down and waving a hand. ‘Can I be Claire’s mentor?’

Matt walks over, puts an arm around her waist, and gently pulls her over to one side. ‘That’s awful sweet of you to offer, Gretchen, but I’m thinking Claire might need a strong maternal hand. You being more of a sisterly kind of a girl, the sort of friendly, guiding light that will help Claire in a more... unofficial role. I’m sure that I can rely on you to give her plenty of space while she’s finding her feet. Okay? Why don’t you run along now and start arranging for Peter to be released. ’

‘Um, yes boss,’ Gretchen says ducking her head and loping from the room.

‘Thanks for putting her off,’ Claire says sheepishly, standing up and stretching. ‘She’s a little much.’

Matt shrugs easily. ‘She’s a little overenthusiastic but you’re a bright, strong, young woman. I’m sure you’ll learn to cope just fine and dandy. No, I’m thinking more that Niki would be a better match for you. Welcome aboard, Miss Bennet,’ Matt says, putting an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m confident you’ll have lots of fun.’



‘You look smug,’ Mohinder notes as Matt sits down on the couch next to him.

‘I’ve had a good day,’ Matt announces, leaning over to bite Mohinder’s ear. ‘Molly’s over at Niki’s for a while.’

‘Hmm,’ Mohinder says, putting down his files. ‘It would be a shame to waste the free time.’

‘A positive crime,’ Matt agrees, taking Mohinder by the hand and leading him back to the bedroom.

The End
 

"Mastermind" - Matt is a powerful supervillain, his mental powers second to none, and those heroes that dare to go up against them find reality turning against them as their greatest fears and desires are exposed. Can the heroes
prevail against him? Will Matt triumph? Author's choice of heroes to put against the Mastermind!

Comments

[zahdahe.livejournal.com]

I'VE ONLY JUST STARTED READING THIS BUT I'VE GOT TO STOP!
work! I'm going to read this at home and hoepfully give a coherent comment - possibly in 3 days when I stop laughing! plot is just so fun so far. Love the daughter in training aspect of Matt and Molly's relationship!

snarf snarf!

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm glad you're enjoying it :D Hope to hear from you when you've stopped laughing <333

[dragon6593.livejournal.com]

Matt Parkman as a combination of Dr. Evil and Ward Clever whose nicer and smarter than the average evil bad guy. Of course it helps when the good guys are morons. Whose outfit pays better benefits that the "good guys." Hey, sign me up.

When he lopped off Hiro's head...you don't know how many times I wished they'd done that on the show after season one. God he became so annoying. Claire too for that matter.

Delightfully twisted, I loved it.

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Thanks bb! I had fantastic fun writing :D I've always been a fan of The Mayor in Buffy and he was wonderfully warm and paternal with Faith as well as wanting to turn into a giant lizard and eat people.

The so-called good guys in Heroes sheesh :P Peter tortured Sylar, Hiro buried Adam alive and then shoved Mohinder in an asylum, not to mention the stuff Angela and Bennet got up to. What's a bad guy supposed to do when that's how the GOOD GUYS behave!

Yeah, Hiro and Claire both wore out their welcome with me by the middle of the second season. I was considering killing off Claire too but it seemed a step too far really.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it :D

[boudecia7.livejournal.com]

I love this one so much!! Matt is great with the seemingly conflictions of his work and personal lives XD

I know Despicable Me isn't going to be out there for a while, but I think you'll enjoy Gru's interactions with his minions quite a bit. :D This is a more fun story though because it has Mohinder and Matt's relationship with him and Molly is so much fun that as usual I want more! I love how the people closest to Matt don't seem to mind his evil proclivities at all. So awesome! I laughed all the way through. <333333

[kethni.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to Despicable Me :D I don't know why they're holding it back so long. Boo!

I don't know why but I love the idea of Mohinder being almost completely normal and in the real world while all this crazy battle between good and evil is going on. Matt is a good, loving father and husband even if he is one of those ones with an unfortunate tendency to talk about work at the dinner table :D

<333

[jaune-chat.livejournal.com]

OMG! It's the "What I Would Do If I Were An Evil Overlord" list come to fic! Matt being all, "I'm so sane, and a good father and husband and boss, golly gee," and all the "Good Guys" complaining about the rules. Nathan wondering why nothing is "right" and Molly being all "crocodiles are cool!"

I was laughing the whole way through this fic! Claire's unfortunately tight catsuit, Hiro's heroic defiance (and swift gift of death), Niki following proceedure for Peter's fake sick-out, Gretchen strip-searching Claire, all just ridiculously fun! Thanks so much!

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you liked it :D I raided the Evil Overlord list like there was no tomorrow, hehe! I had tons of fun writing it, thanks for the great prompt :D

[leadaisy.livejournal.com]

First off: LOVE Your icon, LOL!! Love it!

Loved how proud papa Matt took Molly to his work and showed her the ropes. Molly wanting to take Hiro’s head in to show and tell made me spit out my diet coke, I was laughing so hard! XD And Matt’s creepy natural conversation to Molly about all the horrific things he has to do in his day to day work life made me crack up!

And at the end of the day: Matt goes home and makes sweet sweet sweet love to his man, YOU GO BOY! :D

LOVED THIS! <33333

[kethni.livejournal.com]

I was trying to do one with the Despicable Me minions that my evil partner in crime sent me and my Matt action figure, but I couldn't get it to work.

Thanks hon! I'm glad you liked it :D I think it's one of my favourites of the ones I did this time. Some kids are just awesomely evil by nature :P

<333

OMG

[(Anonymous)]

I loved this. It was fantastic, darn it!

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

Angeldust

PS - Sorry, I don't have an LJ account as I can't write for toffee.

Re: OMG

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Hi Angeldust :)

Thanks so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I had tons of fun writing it :D

No worries :) Although plenty of people have LJ's just to keep track of comms and writers.

Re: OMG

[(Anonymous)]

Well, shit! Why didn't I think of that?!

Maybe I'll see about setting one up - thanks for the idea.

BTW I have read all your stuff - I think you are a great writer and really know how to set the tone in such a way that i can *see* it in my head. I'm pretty new to the whole slash thing - found a story accidentally - Dean/Sam Supernatural and haven't looked back.

A lot of stuff is pretty dire, but sometimes you come across a writer that actually knows how to tell a story - I think you're fab!

OK, enough gushing, I will be pressing on with reading the rest of stories in the "Thon" but I confess that MattMo is my fav in Heroes pairings.

PS
Your Toxic verse left me in tears and mighty depressed... Just goes to show the power of your great ideas and translating them into words on the screen in such a way it draws out the emotions - so I bow down to you Madame Kethni, Writer Extraordinaire.

Angeldust

Re: OMG

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's why I got an LJ account in the first place. I'm lazy!

Oh thanks so much, I really appreciate it :) It's always a lift to hear someone enjoys reading a story.

Matt/Mo is my favourite too :) I quite like Matt/Adam and Matt/Nathan too.

Ah, sorry to have made you cry and depress you. Toxic was pretty intense throughout but overall I'm pretty proud of it.

Thanks so much <333

[veronicasleeps.livejournal.com]

This is simply adorable. I positively adore your Matt!

[kethni.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thanks so much, I had great fun writing it :D

Thanks for reading and commenting!