2008-01-22: We Need a Hiro!

Starring:

Hiro_icon.gif Meryl_icon.gif

Guest-Starring:

Church_icon.gif

Summary: Meryl acquires an asset named Hiro. Every good guy ever is joining the dark side. Will Hiro be locked up in a cell? Tune in next week to find out!

Date It Happened: 22 JANUARY 2008

Log Title We Need a Hiro!


Central Park

Hiro has a dozen different reasons to be in a dozen different places today. He has no real way of contacting most of the friends that he met through Peter Petrelli and finding Gabriel, while a top priority, is going nowhere as he hasn't the faintest idea where to begin. The only people he knows capable of finding other people are either not to be contacted under most any circumstances or they're the person he's looking for in the first place. But he does know somebody with a similar ability and the two times he's caught up with her it has been in Central Park, so why not check it again?

He appears all of a sudden, still looking a bit more rough and tumble than usual but at least he's well-rested thanks to a certain person's insistence. He pauses alongside a path, watching the joggers and walkers and runners go past carefully and trying to get a good look at their faces. He doesn't catch sigh of whoever he is looking for, however, and he frowns.

—-

How can one tell a Company agent from a civilian? There's really no way, specifically, unless you know who's who in the world. Since there are a handful of Agents and a lot of civilians, they're kind of hard to find.

That's Meryl's theory, anyway. That's why she's scootering through Central Park without any backup. Even if she runs across Petrelli, he's not likely to know her for an Agent unless he reads her mind. Which is really entirely possible, but Meryl will take her chances.

In any case, she's riding on what looks to be a cross between a scooter and a bicycle. It's quiet but powered. Most likely electric; on her back is a backpack with a few groceries inside - necessities like M&Ms and chocolate cake rolls and a rolling pin that she doesn't need, but it looks cool, among other things. As she scoots along, she spots Hiro. Now, logically, she should duck her head and keep going. Hiro saw her get shot, and she should still, by all rights, be in the hospital. However, Meryl is not logical! So she stops, and flashes the teleporter a bright, toothy grin. "Hey, Hiro. How's it goin'?"

—-

Hiro is, understandably, quite confused. First and foremost, he definitely did see the Scooter Lady get shot and that wasn't all that long ago. Second, he is certain they didn't really have time to introduce themselves given that he was chasing after Gabriel and she was lying around on the floor spilling blood all over the place. But then, there she is calling him by name and riding around on a scooter as though nothing had happened. Mr. Spock would be at a loss.

"Hello," Hiro replies guardedly, taking two short steps away from the edge of the path so he's out of arm's reach in case he needs to beam out. He may be in bloodhound vengeance mode but that does not stop him from being polite and speaking when spoken to, apparently.

—-

Even if Meryl's not exactly logical, she's not stupid, either. Stepping off the scooter and putting the kickstand down, she offers her hand to Hiro. The other one is left open at her side out of habit, to show that she's unarmed. She's stopped for a reason, and while she's taking a chance by doing this, she's hoping desperately that it's the right thing to to. After all, Peter's suspected to have killed Kaito. Kaito is Hiro's dad. Was. Was Hiro's dad. "I don't have rabies or anything, it's okay, Mate. You don't have to run off."

She thinks, then adds, "I could list all the diseases that I don't have, if you'd like. I think it'd just be easier to list the ones that I do, which aren't consequential. I might have an alien larva inside my ribcage - you know, from the alien bullet - but I don't think that's contagious. I know you were there at the 7-11 when I was shot. I'd like to thank you."

There's more to it than that, sure. But she'll get to that in a minute. "I'm Meryl Wolfe."

—-

Hiro tentatively extends a hand to shake the one offered by Meryl, still looking at her curiously. The whole alien larva deposited by an alien bullet gives him pause but he's got more important things on his mind and who's to say there aren't aliens? Stranger things have definitely happened. Hiro travelling through time and space by force of will being one of them. He doesn't really see the need to give her his name since she already knows it. Instead, he simply says:

"Thank me? It was … " he pauses and decides not to give out names just in case, "It wasn't me who called the ambulance."

—-

He's got a point. "You have a point," she says.

"Look, I'll be honest with you. Hiro— " She pauses to look around. This isn't the best idea she's ever had, most likely. Lowering her voice, she goes on. I'm with the Company. Don't worry, I'm off-duty." That's… a bit of a lie. An Agent isn't really ever off-duty. Their eyes are always open, always looking. Their phones are always on, and they're always on-call. At the moment, though, Meryl has no intent to bring Hiro in or even fight with him or argue with him or anything. She's here peacefully.

"If you want, I'll go. Promise. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your father. I… heard what happened, and I think it's the pits." She pauses, then adds, perhaps to inject a little empathy, "I know what that feels like. I recently lost both my parents." Sure, it was her choice, in a way. They were suffering, and being put into a coma until they died naturally brought relief. But she'll never talk with either of them again, and it hurts. "We're doing all we can to find the person responsible."

—-

"And do you know who is responsible?"

Hiro asks quietly, his expression particularly sombre. He has no love for the Company but given the situation he's willing to not flee or get defensive. He already has it in his head who is responsible for his Father's murder but given the resources the Company has it could be a way to find out for certain.

—-

Meryl considers for a good number of seconds. It's also entirely possible that she's thinking about what pizza toppings she wants on tonight's dinner, or perhaps about the properties of pie. After these seconds pass, she says, "Yes," without giving anything away. She believes Hiro has a right to know, but she also doesn't want her job - and her life - to fall into jeopardy. She can't just tell him. She can't.

Can she?

Wouldn't Hiro Nakamura be a valuable asset in finding Peter Petrelli? She shakes her head as she has this conversation with herself. It would be better if the Company knew nothing about this meeting. Besides, if they wanted Hiro—

They'd have a hard time finding him, duh. He can stop time and teleport. "I don't think I'm supposed to say," she admits. "But they're a little fuzzy on the subject of me nodding or shaking my head, so, you know…" She pauses. "We can play twenty questions here. If you don't tell, I won't."

—-

Meryl considers for a good number of seconds. It's also entirely possible that she's thinking about what pizza toppings she wants on tonight's dinner, or perhaps about the properties of pie. After these seconds pass, she says, "Yes," without giving anything away. She believes Hiro has a right to know, but she also doesn't want her job - and her life - to fall into jeopardy. She can't just tell him. She can't.

Can she?

Wouldn't Hiro Nakamura be a valuable asset in finding Peter Petrelli? She shakes her head as she has this conversation with herself. It would be better if the Company knew nothing about this meeting. Besides, if they wanted Hiro—

They'd have a hard time finding him, duh. He can stop time and teleport. "I don't think I'm supposed to say," she admits. "But they're a little fuzzy on the subject of me nodding or shaking my head, so, you know…" She pauses. "We can play twenty questions here. If you don't tell, I won't."

—-

Twenty questions? Hiro only needs one. He looks square at Meryl and attempts to verify what he already believes to be the truth.

"Was it Peter Petrelli?"

—-

Meryl whines. That was the question she was hoping he wouldn't ask! Even if she knew he would. Closing her eyes, she presses her lips together. "We think so." It's not a nod, is it? "We've no way of knowing for certain…" She looks around again, over her shoulder, as if she's being watched by other Agents right now.

"Why don't you come with me back to my apartment," she says, spinning a story in her mind as she goes on. Meryl's not particularly good at lying, but she's pretty damn decent at making the truth look enticing, and making herself look trustworthy. "I know you don't really trust us, and you've every right not to." …And pandering. "But in this case, I think we could use your help as much as you can use ours. We've got the resources, the personnel, and you… Are… you."

—-

Hiro definately doesn't look trusting given the whole situation. He's been in the custody of the Company before, after all. But, in the end, he wants to see Peter Petrelli stopped before he can hurt anyone else and if that includes making a deal with the devil then he may have to do just that. He could teleport out at any time, of course, and if they want to help him then maybe he should let them …

"Why would you need my help?"

—-

Well, at least it's not a no. "I'm impressed," Meryl says, arching eyebrows and otherwise looking clearly impressed. "I was sure you'd run off screaming when I asked. You know, like the 'gran-paw just ate a pound of baked beans and we'd better clear the room' fast." A smile appears. She likes this guy.

Anyway. "You know that whole thing about the straw that broke the camel's back? This is kinna like that, I guess. Kaito was important to us, too, Hiro. He's gone now, and I think it'd be a crying shame not to exhaust all our options. You want to see justice. We want to see justice. Turn the tide of the war!" Leaning back on one leg, she taps her chin. "Don't know how good you are at your American 'istory, but a few years back, there was that whole fiasco with Bush and Gore runnin' for the White House, yeah? They say every vote really counted in that election. Coulda gone a whole different way if everyone'd voted. With you on board… Who knows, Hiro?"

—-

Hiro is actually thinking about things. Before his father was killed by someone he thought he could entirely trust, Hiro would have said no and taken off - and probably have warned every other Special person he knew as well. But right now things are all turned on their head. The people he thought were his enemies look to be the ones working for good and those who he used to see as heroes are now killers.

War? Hiro doesn't know much about this being a war. Special people are Special for a reason and anybody who would want to fight them just because of that would have an easier time sweeping up all the sand in the Sahara. Kaito was important to them? Well, Kaito did tell him that he was a part of the Company. He was trying to fix their mistakes. Maybe Hiro can fix those mistakes for him now that he's gone?

It all swims about his head, pulling him in a dozen different directions at once. But in the end, all he says is:

"Lets go."

—-

Meryl can only imagine what Hiro's thinking. It must be hard for him, trying to decide whether Superman or Batman is cooler, or whether monkeys should be required to wear pants in public. Or whether the Queen of England would look dashing or silly in hot pink. These questions are all very important ones, and Meryl has never been able to accurately answer any of them. Thankfully, none of them are really important to consider too much in detail.

Oh. He's said yes.

"Well, it's a little walk on foot," she says apologetically, looking in the rough direction of her apartment while taking the handlebars of her scooter so she can roll it along. "Thanks. I think this is a good idea." She pulls out her phone and thinks for a moment, before starting to enter in a text message. "I'm telling them I'm talking to you — no worries. I'm sure if you change your mind, you can am-scray b'fore they know."

—-

Hiro follows alongside Meryl, saying nothing.

But in his head, things are still whirring about. If she's given him the option of disappearing without a trace, that lends 'trustability' to the Company. Sure, he probably won't ever truly trust them but recent revelations from his Father coupled with Topsy-Turvy World Syndrome make him surprisingly accepting of this strange deal.

In the end, he's not going anywhere.

—-

Text message to Church: Hay :)

« Text message from Church: Sup?

Text message to Church: met hero nakakdhla in park he said he'll help taking him 2 my apartment

« Text message from Church: Say what? Who r u taking whar?

Text message to Church: katos son the telaporter. he says hell help get pp. lol pp

« Text message from Church: Whats wrogn wit u woman asdfghh

Text message to Church: lololol just tell anglea or someth' he came quitely. she can call me whatevs

« Text message from Church: shes gon put her claws in, u know that rite? does HE?

Text message to Church: duh lol. no dont think he knows.'

« Text message from Church: hes a *time travler* omg. if were not *careful* hes gonna go back and kill our 'Rents or someshit, Mer.

Text message to Church: hes 2 nice 2 do that lawrie. srs he knows pp killed his dad he wants 2 help (_|_)

« Text message from Church: Angela used 2 be pretty nice 2 but now shes all queen bitch. :( just be careful, k? (_|_)

Text message to Church: i will. will u tell her i don't want to call cuz shell kill me thru teh phone :('

(A LITTLE LATER:)

Text message to Church: hay u still thar or did angla vampir all ur blood out?

« Text message from Church: Fine. -_- If she vampirz me, u r so ded.

Text message to Church: thx lawrie <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 i'll be at my place

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