FIC: "Apron Strings" (Heroes, PG-13)
Dec. 3rd, 2006 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeSummary: Jessica keeps the apron strings tight. Vague future-fic.
Disclaimer: Uh ... belongs to some network? With some guy in charge? I don't know...
Apron Strings
by LizBee
Micah was reaching for his cellphone even before it had started to ring.
"Hello?" he said, climbing to his feet and edging out of the dorm and into the hall.
"Micah?"
"Mom," he said. There was a moment of silence. "Or is this ... Jessica?"
"You know I love you, Micah."
"Yeah," he said. "I know."
A couple of girls passed. One was in his Logic class; she gave him a sidelong smile and said something to her friend. Micah ignored her and kept walking.
"So what is it?" he asked.
"I have a favour to ask."
"Is Niki okay?"
"She will be." If you help. It went unspoken. Micah felt a wave of his old hatred for Jessica. For a moment he was dizzy. There was a burst of static on the phone.
"What do you need?" he asked eventually.
"Just some names."
She read them out. He didn't need to write them down, and she didn't need to repeat them.
"This is as much for you as anyone else," she said.
"Yeah. You've told me that before."
There was a TV in the dining hall. He turned it over to CNN. The President was making a speech. And there was his mother, standing behind him, a neat forty-something blonde in a nondescript grey suit. Or was it Jessica?
"Is this really for me?" he asked, "or Petrelli?"
Jessica was silent, but he thought she might be smiling. "It's for everyone, Micah."
"So, Petrelli, then."
"I thought you'd be proud. To see us in a proper job."
Micah sat down on a table, put his feet up on a chair. "Proud," he said. "Yeah."
"It's how you got into that fancy college."
"I hope you don't expect me to thank you," he said. "Because after what you did to Dad--"
He heard a quick hiss of rage, and Jessica hung up on him.
Micah walked around for another hour, thinking about that conversation, and Jessica, and his parents. Then he returned to his room. The wiring in the light was faulty. Nothing huge, but it nagged at him. Just a bit. He'd been putting off fixing it for a while. But he did it now, and cleaned a bit, and sorted his notes for the next week of classes, and when he couldn't put it off any more, he switched on his computer and sat down.
It took him less than ten minutes to write the email, but when it was finished, he lifted his hands from the keyboard and read through it. Twice. Three times.
Jessica would find out, of course. His mother said that she was in control now, but Micah knew his mother. Niki hated being the one in power. Once she drank and gambled. Now she worked for Petrelli. Jessica was always waiting.
He hit send and waited for his mother to call.
End
Disclaimer: Uh ... belongs to some network? With some guy in charge? I don't know...
by LizBee
Micah was reaching for his cellphone even before it had started to ring.
"Hello?" he said, climbing to his feet and edging out of the dorm and into the hall.
"Micah?"
"Mom," he said. There was a moment of silence. "Or is this ... Jessica?"
"You know I love you, Micah."
"Yeah," he said. "I know."
A couple of girls passed. One was in his Logic class; she gave him a sidelong smile and said something to her friend. Micah ignored her and kept walking.
"So what is it?" he asked.
"I have a favour to ask."
"Is Niki okay?"
"She will be." If you help. It went unspoken. Micah felt a wave of his old hatred for Jessica. For a moment he was dizzy. There was a burst of static on the phone.
"What do you need?" he asked eventually.
"Just some names."
She read them out. He didn't need to write them down, and she didn't need to repeat them.
"This is as much for you as anyone else," she said.
"Yeah. You've told me that before."
There was a TV in the dining hall. He turned it over to CNN. The President was making a speech. And there was his mother, standing behind him, a neat forty-something blonde in a nondescript grey suit. Or was it Jessica?
"Is this really for me?" he asked, "or Petrelli?"
Jessica was silent, but he thought she might be smiling. "It's for everyone, Micah."
"So, Petrelli, then."
"I thought you'd be proud. To see us in a proper job."
Micah sat down on a table, put his feet up on a chair. "Proud," he said. "Yeah."
"It's how you got into that fancy college."
"I hope you don't expect me to thank you," he said. "Because after what you did to Dad--"
He heard a quick hiss of rage, and Jessica hung up on him.
Micah walked around for another hour, thinking about that conversation, and Jessica, and his parents. Then he returned to his room. The wiring in the light was faulty. Nothing huge, but it nagged at him. Just a bit. He'd been putting off fixing it for a while. But he did it now, and cleaned a bit, and sorted his notes for the next week of classes, and when he couldn't put it off any more, he switched on his computer and sat down.
It took him less than ten minutes to write the email, but when it was finished, he lifted his hands from the keyboard and read through it. Twice. Three times.
Jessica would find out, of course. His mother said that she was in control now, but Micah knew his mother. Niki hated being the one in power. Once she drank and gambled. Now she worked for Petrelli. Jessica was always waiting.
He hit send and waited for his mother to call.
End
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 02:28 pm (UTC)Creepy to think Jessica is still controlling Niki that far into the future. And Petrelli as President? Not sure whether to think that's cool, or very very disturbing! :~D
(hmm, need to update icons very badly!)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 06:47 pm (UTC)*claps delightedly*
*has no HEROES icons so must use LOST icon, sadly*
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 08:49 pm (UTC)