Good evening everyone! (Or morning or afternoon, depending on where you live and when you're reading this.) I am daphrose, and typically I'm found in the Lab Rats, 2012 fandom. But recently I came up with an idea for Big Hero 6, and I thought I'd write it and post it for y'all. It's my first story in this fandom! Woo! Hopefully I got the characters right. XD
I kinda thought this sucked when I first wrote it, but going back over it now, I guess it's not so bad. It's not very long, but I don't think there's a lot to tell. It basically stemmed out of the idea of Professor Callaghan and Abigail talking after the end of the movie. This contains spoilers, by the way! It's some father-daughter fluff ('cause I'm a sucker for that) and regretful angst. I noticed there weren't many fics with the two of them, and I wanted to add something.
I don't own Big Hero 6, of course. Disney does. Enjoy!
* * * Amend * * *
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
- Mahatma Gandhi
"You have a visitor." The words were curt and harsh, said without any emotion. He looked up at the guard, barely acknowledging what had been said to him.
Through the bright blue bars that kept him imprisoned, he saw his visitor walk in the door. Immediately his head shot up. "Abigail," he said softly.
"Hi . . . Dad," she replied.
"You've got ten minutes," the guard said gruffly. He walked back out, slamming the door shut behind him.
The seconds that followed were full of an uneasy silence. He took the opportunity to observe his daughter. Her brown hair was loose and flowing across her shoulders. She had on casual clothing, something she tended to wear only when she was tired. Her walk was lethargic and revealed the pain she felt. His heart twisted to think that his baby girl was in pain.
"Why are you here?" he asked suddenly. He wasn't sure why he said that. He certainly didn't mean to sound so demanding. But he didn't expect her to come visit him. Not after what he'd done.
"I want to talk to you," she said softly. "Is it wrong for a daughter to want to see her dad?"
"No . . . but I'm one awful dad."
She was silent for a few moments before saying, "You . . . you thought you were doing something right."
"Oh, Abigail!" He leaned forward and put his head in his hands.
Here he was, and there she was. They were separated by the bars of his cell. He was sitting on a cloth cot and she was leaning against the cold brick wall. Cold. Everything in this place was cold. He belonged here. He knew it.
"I just wanted you back," he said finally. "And now I've got you . . . but I can't have you." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Why is fate so cruel?"
"It's not fate, Dad. You did this to yourself."
That, he knew, was true. "For years I blamed Krei for your . . . death."
"You shouldn't have done that. It wasn't even his fault."
"No, no, I still blame Krei. He's the reason you were trapped in there for so long. If it wasn't for him, none of this would've happened."
She sighed. "I knew what I signed up for. Literally. I signed all the waivers. I even gave them my blood type! I knew the risks. I volunteered for it. They told me about the danger. Don't go blaming Krei! I knew there was a possibility I wouldn't come back. I thought you knew that too."
"You shouldn't have gone. Don't you know how much you mean to me?"
"Of course I do. But Dad, you've always talked about making great advances in science. This would've been so major! And it was. Maybe it failed, but the technology is just raw. Everything you created failed the first time . . . the first several times! But imagine it: inter-dimensional travel! I had to be involved in something like that. I was. In fact, I'm proud that I was the first person to get lost in a portal. I'm going down in history! And so are you. Only, history won't smile on you. Those kids in the future will only hear about the bad things you did."
"I know," he said softly.
"Look at you. A brilliant scientist . . . and you're here. You've done so much good for the world. A lot of what you see out there . . . that's because of you. Even these prison bars! Stun beams to reduce the chances of prisoners escaping. Your own invention. Now you're trapped behind them."
"Like I said, fate is cruel." He looked at her, his beautiful little girl. "Oh Abigail, where did I go wrong?"
"You went wrong when you let revenge blind you. Did you really think I would've wanted that?"
"I . . . I thought I could avenge you."
"Avenge me for what? Dad, I'm disappointed in you."
The disappointment card. Ouch. Never had he expected his own daughter to use it on him.
"I wouldn't have wanted you to kill Krei!" she continued. "Really, Dad, what were you thinking?"
"I wasn't!" He felt the sob catch in his throat. "I missed you so much. I . . . I wasn't thinking straight. I thought that if I took everything from Krei—if I made him feel how I felt—that somehow I could make myself feel better. I came very close to making a horrible mistake. I . . . made several other horrible mistakes. Now I can see how foolish I was being. I let an innocent man die . . . a smart, innocent man who had a bright future ahead of him and a family who loved him. Oh, Abigail, what did I do?" He buried his face in his hands. "I am so sorry! I am so, so sorry!"
"I forgive you, Dad."
He looked up. "You . . . you forgive me?"
"I do. You seem to have forgotten all those lessons you taught me when I was little. Lessons about truth and justice and forgiveness."
"It seems I have forgotten. Abigail, you're so much wiser than I am."
"I won't argue with that." She smirked. "But really, Dad, why did you forget? For a little while you made me question everything I've ever followed. If you can slip down a dark path so easily, why do I even need to listen to all those morals you taught me? But I decided that you were just misguided. Despair and revenge blocked your judgement."
"I know, I know." He looked back up at his daughter. "You're so mature now, Abigail. More mature and level-headed than I will ever be. I really am sorry."
"I know you are. I can tell that you are. That's why I forgave you. Really, Dad, you're forgiven. At least, I forgive you. There are a lot of other people you need to apologize to."
"Yes," he sighed. "I know. And I will. I made so many stupid mistakes."
"You did. And you're paying for them. It's like you used to tell me whenever I did something wrong as a kid and was punished for it: 'I hope you learned your lesson.'"
The guard came back into the room. "It's time to go, Ms. Callaghan."
She stood up and turned to him. "I'll . . . I'll see if I can visit you again soon. Goodbye . . . Daddy."
"Goodbye . . . Abby."
Like I said, short, sweet fluff. Professor Callaghan did seem pretty remorseful after he realized that Abigail was alive. I figured that later on, when faced with the face that she was alive and everything he had done was suddenly unjustifiable, he would repent. And by the way, I have no idea how long Abigail was trapped in the portal. I don't believe the movie ever said, but correct me if I'm wrong. I figured that it was possible it had been a couple of years. Hopefully my facts matched up and I was able to keep them in character! Please let me know if I slipped up anywhere.
What did you guys think? I know it wasn't the best, but I wanted to get the idea out there. Reviews are appreciated, of course. I have more Big Hero 6 one-shots planned, so keep an eye for those. I wanted to do one revolving around Tadashi's final moments. Sad, heavy stuff. That's always fun. ;) Thanks for reading, guys! Bye!
