AN: Okay, let me just go ahead and get this out of the way. This is my first fanfiction, ever. There is no beta, no other reader, only me. With that said, I apologize if there's any spelling errors, you feel like the story could have been better, etc. please leave a review or PM me or whatever it is you're supposed to do, and I'll try to improve in the future.
Anyways, I recently saw the movie for this, and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was such a cute movie, and I ended up writing this little one-shot about it. I somehow worked up the courage to actually post it on this site, and now here we are. Yeah, so let's see how this goes...
Disclaimer: I do not own this movie or its characters in any way, shape, or form. That honor belongs to Steven Seagle and Duncan Rouleau.
Hiro wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.
Ever since he and the gang had managed to take down Callaghan, and eventually rebuilding Baymax, crime had seemed to nearly triple. There was always some sort of bank robbery, someone threatening to blow up a building, and last week someone had built army of, poorly built in Hiro's opinion, robots. They had been no problem for Big Hero 6 though. They were always there when they were needed, protected San Fransokyo with their lives and awesome tech. Nope, no trouble at all... At least not at first.
Accidents happened though. Their gear occasionally ended up needing repairs after a fight, and there was the regular maintenance to make sure everything was running smoothly. And take a guess at who was responsible for this?
Yours truly.
So here he was, in the middle of the night, hiding out in his garage trying to figure out why Wasabi's plasma blades were no longer activating. Fred's suit was resting in the corner of the room, partially charred due to a malfunction with the built in flamethrower. Next to it on a side table was a plate of untouched food. Aunt Cass had been kind enough to bring it in a few hours ago, hugging him goodnight before hurrying off to bed. Baymax had been deactivated and placed back into his box, allowing him to recharge and make his own needed repairs. The armor hadn't been enough to prevent air leaks from forming, and his battery had almost been dead by the time they had flown home.
Hiro was alone.
His eyes were heavy, and he wouldn't be surprised if he had more bags under his eyes when morning came. His body screamed in pain, sore from crashing into a brick wall earlier that day. He really needed to teach Baymax how to fly on his own. He was adding more bruises to his collection with each passing day, and it was a wonder how he wasn't completely black and blue at this point.
As sparks flew from the open component of the plasma blades, effectively frying a section within it, Hiro threw the screwdriver he had been holding across the garage, letting it bounce across the floor. It landed next to a pile of unfinished homework that had been building up for over a month now, most of the assignments either due in the next few days or late already.
He raked a hand through his shaggy black hair, growling in irritation.
"This is impossible." He muttered,
letting his head slam into the desk. "Wasabi needs these for the next time we get called out, and I need to finish that paper for mechanics by tomorrow morning. I want to run a few scans over Baymax's system but..."
There's never time anymore.
There was so much to do, so little time. He didn't want to worry his teammates anymore, wished he could spend more time with Aunt Cass because they were all each other had now, and hated seeing the disappointment in his teachers' eyes when he didn't have his assignment ready to turn in.
Tadashi could have done it.
Amazing, loveable, perfect Tadashi. Tadashi always found a way to do it. He could handle any problem, never had to worry about not being good enough. He could have helped Hiro with all his problems, put him at ease at least for a few moments so he didn't feel so useless. Tadashi's would have done a better job than him, at everything. Hiro should have been the one who died, friendless, clueless, useless Hiro.
"But Tadashi isn't here anymore." Hiro's smile was bittersweet as he gazed at a framed photo of the duo, with Tadashi's arm wrapped around Hiro in a tight hug, both grinning widely. The happy image was immediately replaced with a hauntingly familiar scene. A blazing building, with fire pouring out of every opening, threatening to collapse at any moment. His brother's panicked face, fear and determination reflected in his eyes. Tadashi disappearing into the flames. The explosion that ruined everything.
Something wet hit his hand, pulling him from his thoughts. He could feel the streaks running down his cheeks, water building up in the corner of his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he had been crying, and he didn't really care.
"Tadashi. Tadashi. Tadashi. Why did you have to leave? Didn't you know how much we needed you, how much I needed you?" He choked out, cradling his head in his knees.
"It hurts..." He murmured, trying to still his quivering body, quiet his sobs. The last thing he needed was Aunt Cass walking in on him when he was being a big crybaby.
"On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt, Hiro?" Hiro's head snot up, whirling around to see Baymax staring blankly at him.
"Baymax? I thought you were offline. I didn't say ow or anything." Hiro's nose scrunched up, brows knitting together as they usually did when he was pondering something.
"I could sense your pain while I was in sleep mode. I activated myself to see why you were in pain." Baymax responded in the same monotone voice. "What is wrong, Hiro? My scanners show that there are no new physical injuries."
"My heart hurts, Baymax." Hiro didn't expect the marshmallow-like robot to understand though. How could he? He was just a robot, one of the only things left that reminded him of his brother.
"My scanners show that you are experiencing anxiety, and your stress levels our high and your heartbeat is erratic."
"Just leave me alone. You can't just fix me. It's not that easy!" Hiro didn't mean to snap at the bot, didn't mean to scream at him. He was sick of that emotionless voice, sick of seeing one of his brother's greatest creation, seeing his brother's legacy.
It hurt so much.
Soft, rubbery arms wrapped around him tightly, enveloping him in a hug. He could've sworn he felt warmth coming from it's body.
"There, there. Everything will be alright." The bot reassured, squeezing tighter. "Tadashi is here." One of the hands rose, a plump finger pointing at his heart. That had done it. Hiro returned the embrace, crying freely in his robot's, no, friend's arms. The tears simply rolled down the elastic exterior, and Baymax gave no indication that it bothered him in the slightest. They stood there together for quite some time, the only sound being Hiro's sobs and the occasional comforting words Baymax provided. Eventually, Hiro's eyes began to droop, any energy he had had left now gone.
"Thank you for caring, Baymax." The boy whispered, before losing himself to sleep. The bot wiped away the tears still hanging on the teen's face, picking the boy up in his arms. He carried him up to his room, carefully placing him in his bed, and pulled the covers over the child. Hiro unconsciously wrapped the blankets tightly around him, burying his face in his pillow.
The bot hovered over him, almost hidden in the dark shadows of the room. Baymax was pleased to see that his heartbeat had settled into a steady rhythm, no sign of the previous stress remaining. Hiro needed the sleep, his energy levels dangerously low. When the child had broken down, something had called to him while he was offline, urging him to rush to the boy's side.
"Tadashi is here, Hiro, watching over you." The bot paused, "I am watching over you as well. I will not let anymore harm come to you." Something sparked in the bot that night, a sensation that he had felt every time he had seen the boy in danger. It was stronger this time, and it was a feeling he couldn't describe, wasn't in his database. It was still there though, even if he couldn't define it. The bot had wandered over to the secondary charging station located in the boy's room, and before he shut down he took one last look in the direction of the boy.
"I will protect you, Hiro. Always."