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The pounding headache searing from his temple and a tug on his shoulder were all Hiro could feel as he came to.
Eyes flickering open lazily, Hiro squinted through the hazy red lights, glancing around at his surroundings. Baymax’s armored hand had his arm in a tight grip, dragging him down a metal hallway, shoes scuffing along the grated crossbars sporadically. Baymax’s heavy footfalls echoed down the hall until he halted.
“Well done.” A disembodied voice reverberated through Hiro’s already aching head, and he cringed back as light steps circled around him. Hiro yelped when Baymax dropped his arm, his upper body thumping hard on the cold floors. His already battered head knocked to the ground, and Hiro felt a faint whimper escape his throat.
“Hello Hiro,” glancing up through narrowed eyes, Hiro scowled at the slim frame towering over him. The man tilted his head, a smirk on his lips, then twisted on his heel and continued the way Baymax had been dragging him. “Come, we have much to discuss.”
Hiro glanced at Baymax, then back to the tall scary guy gliding down the corridor. He was just going to leave him there? That was fine with him.
Shifting to his knees quietly, and trying to ignore the sharp pain emanating from this temple, Hiro lightly shuffled from Baymax’s view, the robot unmoving since dropping his arm. Taking his opening, Hiro spun into a run, his heart and head pounding in sync with his steps.
He didn’t get very far, a black swarm forming a wall in front of his exit. Hiro barely had time to turn around before another black figure struck and swirled around his waist, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him from the ground. Hiro yelped as he watched little pieces from his binds scuttle and reform.
My microbots?
Hiro’s head jerked up as a low chuckle echoed. The tall scary guy, now accompanied by a man dressed in all black with a kabuki mask covering his face, hand outstretched, strolled up to him.
“You’re very brave for a fourteen-year-old boy,” Hiro shrunk as the man, who apparently knew too much info about him, gave him a once over. “Lesson number one, Hiro Hamada,” the microbots abruptly dropped him, and Hiro stumbled into the Tall Scary Guy who gripped his wrist like a vice, the same one Baymax had used to drag him down the hall, “bravery will get you nowhere here.”
Hiro gulped, nodding shakily as he was once more dragged bodily down the hall. He tugged uselessly at the tight grip Tall Scary Guy had on his arm. He had yet to learn a name, but he definitely preferred Professor Callaghan’s presence of the two. At least Callaghan seemed to have a dislike for needlessly injuring fourteen-year-olds. He just simply walked next to them, ignoring Hiro’s feeble attempts to escape.
Seeing Callaghan without the mask was a shock, considering the man was supposed to be dead. An even greater shock was that he had his microbots, and was helping the guy currently dragging him to who-knows-where.
“Let – let go of me! What – did you do to Baymax!” Hiro dug his feet into the ground, trying to slow their progress down the hall. He had no idea where he was. Whatever had been done to Baymax had made the robot knock him out before delivering him to wherever he was now. Everything was encased in metal, so probably someplace underground. Was he even still in San Fransokyo?
Red emergency lights lit their path, making everything ten times more sinister. Tall Scary Guy pulled him further down, not seeming the least bit perturbed by Hiro’s attempts to escape his grip. By the time the three pulled up to their destination, a random door among many others in the long hallway, Hiro was panting from exertion. He’d even tried biting the hand that held him, but no dice. Tall Scary Guy didn’t even seem slightly affected by teeth digging into his skin.
“My my, Hiro. I thought you’d be more gracious for your gift.” Tall Scary Guy murmured with a smirk. Callaghan sighed from the other side of Hiro, typing in a code on the padlock.
“Quit taunting the boy, Obake.” So that was Tall Scary Guy’s name. It was a stupid name.
“Oh Robert, let me have some fun.” Obake shook his head, a chuckle escaping his lips as the door hissed open.
At first, Hiro had no idea what he was looking at. The room – cell – was occupied by only one other person, who spun towards the entrance when it opened. That person paled considerably when their eyes met, and Hiro ceased trying to tug his hand from Obake’s grip.
“T-Tadashi?” Hiro croaked out.
Tadashi, looking thinner and wearing the same clothes he went into the fire with, tattered and dirty but alive, was staring in abject horror as Obake pulled him into the room.
“No no no,” Tadashi muttered, jerking in a half step forward but freezing when Callaghan brought a hand up threateningly, microbots poised to strike.
“I’m sure you two will get re-acquainted quickly,” Obake leered.
“What the hell is this?” Tadashi – it was Tadashi, it was his brother – snarled. He hadn’t moved a muscle, with Callaghan ready to harm either him, or Hiro, if he stepped out of line.
“Call it, motivation,” Obake said.
“I thought we had a deal! You said you’d leave him alone if I did what you asked!” Tadashi growled.
“Yes well,” Obake paused, a malicious smirk crossing his lips as he tugged Hiro closer to him by the wrist, “plans have changed. Turns out the boy genius was needed after all.” His gaze dropped from Tadashi to Hiro, and Hiro swallowed hard.
With Hiro’s wrist held fast in the man’s grip, he could do nothing but stare up apprehensively at Obake. With proper lighting he wasn’t granted in the hall, he could finally see who he was dealing with.
The man was slim, but strong, judging by his hold. Sleek black hair with a strip of red through from the root and shaven sides. With dark clothes and even darker eyes, the man looked like the stereotypical villain Hiro read so much about in Fred’s comics.
Trying once again to twist his wrist from Obake’s hold, his other hand attempting to pry those slim fingers up, Hiro shakily asked, “What do you want with me?”
The smirk never left the man’s face. Obake simply leaned further forward, forcing Hiro to tip back. “All will be revealed soon, boy genius.” Hiro’s wrist was released suddenly, and he lost his footing and tumbled back into his brother’s hold when Obake shoved him further into the room. “I suggest you get some rest. You’ll be needing it.”
With that, Obake strolled out of the room, Callaghan and a stream of microbots following. The hydraulics of the sliding door hissed again as it shut, a click signaling the locking mechanism sealing them in.
“Hiro, oh my god,” Hiro was spun around, Tadashi’s hands clasped along the sides of his face, eyes frantically scanning him. Probably searching for injuries.
“T-Tadashi?” Hiro whispered. This wasn’t real. Tadashi was gone. He was killed in the explosion.
But Callaghan survived, and apparently with your microbots.
Interrupting Tadashi’s spastic movements, Hiro threw himself at his brother, his arms winding tightly around Tadashi. He pressed his face into his brother's shirt to muffle sobs. The pain in his wrist from being dragged around quickly faded as Tadashi’s arms wrapped around him in turn, one hand pressing Hiro’s head further into his chest.
Hiro didn’t know how to feel. He was hugging his brother, his brother who had died, but apparently didn’t, and was just kidnapped, but now he was kidnapped–
“Hiro,” Tadashi’s choked voice echoed in their little cell, and his brother tried to push him back. Hiro panicked, tightening his grip and letting out a weak whine at the movement, but his brother didn’t stop.
Tugging Hiro from his chest, Tadashi’s hands once more found their way to Hiro’s face, his forehead pressing against Hiro’s, and all Hiro could see, could feel, was his brother. “Hiro, you need to breathe.”
Hiro shook his head, the gravity of their situation settling heavily in his chest. Panicking was the only logical thing to do. Tadashi, nodding instead, placed his palms further back, over Hiro’s ears instead of his jaw.
“Breathe. We’re okay. It’s just you and me.”
Hiro’s hands scrambled to grip the tattered sleeves of Tadashi’s moss-colored blazer, the muffled sound of his brother’s voice and the pounding of his own heart rattling in his probably concussed head. Slowly but surely, Hiro’s breathing slowed down to a manageable level, and he gently tugged at one of his brother’s sleeves. Tadashi’s hands left his ears, wrapping once more around his brother and swaying them slightly.
“I can’t believe this,” Hiro’s voice was muffled in Tadashi’s shirt. He sniffled as he pulled back just enough to stare up at his brother. “This can’t be possible. I’m dreaming. This is some sort of – messed up nightmare.”
Tadashi’s small smile crumbled easily at that, and his hands started fiddling with the hood of Hiro’s sweater. “Believe it, knucklehead.” Tadashi sighed, rubbing his forehead hard.
“Where are we?” Hiro quietly asked, finally taking a glance around the cell. There was a single cot along the left wall, a small pillow, and a light blanket rumpled on top. To the right, in the corner by the door sat a metal desk and chair, both bolted to the ground with an old computer and 3D printer sitting atop its surface. The right-back corner held a little bump out, a small inlaid sliding door leading into what Hiro assumed was a mini washroom. The room couldn’t have been more than the size of a ten-foot box. Two singular bulbs hung from the ceiling, flickering as though something more powerful was draining the electricity from the smaller sources.
Tadashi sighed behind him, and Hiro turned as his brother’s presence left him, settling on the little cot. Hiro quickly followed suit, not wanting to be far from his brother after having only just reunited with him. Together they leaned against the wall, and Tadashi’s head fell back against it with a thud. His arm slid behind Hiro’s shoulders, tugging him in, and Hiro shoved himself as closely as he could into his brother's side, face titled into his shoulder. He tucked his knees into his chest, curling tight into a ball with a shiver as the cold from the metal seeped past his sweater.
“I don’t know,” Tadashi finally murmured, “the last thing I remember was an explosion, and a black blob shoving me out of the way of a falling beam, and then I woke up here.” Tadashi vaguely gestured to their cramped quarters. “I think it’s been around thirty-six days, but I was unconscious a lot during the first little bit from the fire.”
“Black blob,” Hiro muttered, “my microbots.” Tadashi nodded, his hand starting a gentle rubbing motion over Hiro’s arm as he shivered again. “I thought they were destroyed in the fire. I couldn’t figure out why the one I had left was still active when I didn’t have the neurotransmitter.”
“You had an active one?” Tadashi asked.
“Yeah, I found it when- Baymax!” Hiro suddenly shouted, jerking up from his slouched position. Tadashi jumped at the shout, hovering over Hiro as he slumped forward, hands rubbing over his face and into his messy hair.
“Baymax? Hiro what-“
“That’s how they grabbed me.” Hiro turned back to his brother, a distressed look on his face. “They must’ve planted the chip when we were fighting this killer mascot bot-“
“What chip? Wait- fighting?” Tadashi interjected, and Hiro’s distress turned sheepish.
“I might’ve, sort of, turned your healthcare robot and all our friends into superheroes,” Hiro mumbled.
Tadashi’s brows rose in disbelief, then narrowed, “Hiro...”
“It was mostly Fred’s idea-“
“Unbelievable.”
“Crazy things were happening – people were reporting sites of Callaghan, and then this Obake guy-“
“Bob Aken,” Tadashi said. Hiro froze from his frantic explanation, confusion crossing his features.
“Who?”
Tadashi twisted on the cot, leaning against the metal headboard and resting an arm on his now raised knee. Hiro moved as well, crossing his legs and leaning towards his brother. “Bob Aken, that’s his real name. He was the SFIT Alumni that was presumed dead during the Sycorax mess.”
“What is with everyone faking their death to do illegal conspiracy shit,” Hiro rolled his eyes at Tadashi’s glare over his choice of words, “I mean, Callaghan, Obake, who next?”
“Well, either way I think Aken, or ‘Obake’, recruited Callaghan to steal your bots for something. They’ve been tight-lipped about what they’re planning on doing with them.”
“So why did they take you?” Hiro asked.
“I saw too much?” Tadashi shrugged, picking at a thread on the lightweight blanket. “They haven’t really bothered with me, other than a few questions here and there about your microbots. Although it’s not like I actually saw anything. I’d be dead if they hadn’t grabbed me.”
Hiro froze, reminded of that horrible night of screaming, and flames, and Tadashi’s hat flying from his head as he ran-
“Hey,” Tadashi sat up, grabbing Hiro’s hands and interrupting that dangerous train of thought. “I’m fine. We are both fine.” Hiro looked up helplessly.
“We’re trapped in a tiny cell, and no one knows where we are.”
“But we have each other.” Tadashi shook Hiro’s arm, holding his gaze when Hiro glanced up. “We’re pretty smart, we’ll think of something.”
Hiro’s lips quirked into a small smile, that quickly dropped when all the lights flickered out. Still holding his brother’s hands, he squeezed Tadashi’s fingers. The lack of light made the creaking of settling metal all around them even eerier. ”W-what’s-“
“They turn off the lights every night,” Tadashi quickly explained, “it’s the only way I’ve been keeping track of the days.” Hiro felt a gentle tug on his arms, and he carefully crawled forward as his brother’s hands guided him to settle by his side on the cot. There was only one in the room, so they’d have to make do.
Tadashi tugged the blanket over them, and Hiro tucked himself into Tadashi, arms wrapped around his middle tightly. Tadashi had situated them so Hiro’s back was to the wall, his own to the door.
“Tadashi?”
Tadashi hummed, one hand starting a gentle rhythm running through his hair and gently detangling any knots that stalled the motion.
“What are they going to do with me?” Hiro whispered. Tadashi’s grip squeezed a little, and Hiro closed his eyes, trying to only focus on his brother, and the heartbeat thumping in his chest seemed to whisper I’m alive, I’m here.
“I, I don’t know Hiro,” Tadashi admitted, “just, try to get some sleep while you can, okay?” Hiro nodded into his brother’s collarbone.
Hopefully by now, the rest of his team had found out he and Baymax were missing. With any luck, Baymax was still active to track, and they would all be home soon.
But luck usually wasn’t on the Hamada’s side.
--
Hiro and Tadashi jerked awake as the lights flickered on and the door simultaneously hissed open. Hiro, still half asleep, barely registered what was happening before his brother was backing him into the wall their cot rested against. Peeking around Tadashi’s shoulder, Hiro watched as Professor Callaghan, dressed in the same getup as before, strolled into their cell. A swarm of restless microbots hesitated outside the door, and Hiro grasped Tadashi’s cardigan tightly. Hiro vaguely noticed that Tadashi’s blazer had been wrapped around him instead, sliding off his shoulders when he was pushed up.
“Hiro, time to go.”
“No,” Tadashi glowered, pushing Hiro back further into the wall trying to hide him from Callaghan’s view, “he’s not going anywhere with you, professor.” The last word was spat out like a curse, and Callaghan visibly flinched. Weird.
“Mr. Hamada, do not make this more difficult,” Callaghan placated, “we wouldn’t want any... needless injuries to occur.”
Tadashi stiffened, and Hiro pushed his forehead between his brother’s shoulder blades. Hiro knew he acted much older than he was; that came with the territory of being a child prodigy and high school graduate at thirteen. But he was terrified to leave his brother’s side. He had no idea what Callaghan and this Obake character had planned for him. Tadashi was his older brother, and his mind registered to be near him as safe, even though their situation was far from it.
Tadashi was unmoving, and Hiro heard Callaghan sigh. In rapid succession, two streams of microbots flew past Callaghan, one knocking Tadashi to the side and holding his struggling frame against the opposite wall. The other grabbed Hiro by the ankles, dangling him upside down.
“Hiro!” Tadashi shouted, and Hiro tried to reach for his brother, but the tendril of bots quickly twisted him right-side up, once more pining his arms to his sides. Callaghan closed his fist tight to his chest, and the bots followed the motion, jerking Hiro in front of the man.
“If you co-operate, I will try to organize so you both can stay together for the duration of the project,” Callaghan hissed, “but if you make trouble, there is nothing I can do but what I am told.”
Hiro stared wide-eyed at Callaghan, then glanced back at Tadashi. He also looked confused. Callaghan was, helping them? Tadashi’s head fell as he took a few calming breaths. “If any harm comes to him –“
“If any harm comes to him," Callaghan cut in patronizingly, “it will be because he did not behave.” Tadashi glared.
“Tadashi,” Hiro spoke softly, “I’ll be okay.”
Tadashi watched helplessly as Callaghan left as quickly as he barged in, Hiro swept up behind him in a wave of microbots.
--