Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6
.
.
"Baymax, destroy."
Fred froze as a chill shot up his spine. Hiro sounded uncomfortably like a very familiar and very unpleasant character archetype. And now that he thought about it, Hiro's origin story ... it was starting to line up with it, too.
Beloved relative murdered – betrayed by trusted authority figure – becomes enraged beyond reason–
Fred's breath caught as a red-eyed Baymax raised his arm to fire at Callaghan.
-Kills traitor –
GoGo threw herself at the healthcare robot, managing to make him misfire before she was flung away by an easy backhand.
Fred shook himself - this wasn't the time to be mooning around about character developments! - and found with an unnecessary surprise that he could move just fine.
Hesitation gone, he launched himself at Baymax's back,pulling him away from the ex-professor for a few precious seconds. Fred was slammed into a wall but he managed to keep his hold anyway; while the sensation was jarring and he was sure to carry bruises through the next week, his suit absorbed most of the impact. He reached for the healthcare robot's armored fist. Surely there was a way to get it off! A button, or a strap or–
Fred found himself flying through the air – thrown, he realized – before he crashed back to the ground … or, rather, straight into Hiro.
The kabuki mask fell out of Hiro's hands, but heavy footsteps forced Fred to turn away from the controller – Baymax was still trying to reduce Callaghan into a red smear on the wall. They couldn't let Hiro do this!
As GoGo and Wasabi tried to block Baymax, Fred clung to the armored robot's leg. But as he'd done with the others, Baymax simply picked him up and threw him into a wall.
Fred fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. His costume head had dropped off somehow, and stars flashed in and out of his vision as he gasped for oxygen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Honey Lemon running for Baymax. Fred tried to rise up but only fell back down. He needed to get up, damn it! Hiro … Baymax …!
"My healthcare protocol has been violated."
Huh?
More slowly, Fred tried again to stand. And he did, but not without the help of an abruptly calm Baymax. Fred found himself backing away from the armored robot a few steps. Was … was it really over?
"I regret any distress I may have caused," Tadashi's invention continued sincerely even as the late inventor's younger brother rounded on them.
"How could you do that?!" Hiro roared at them. "I had him!"
"What you just did," Wasabi said lowly, carefully, "We never signed up for."
"We said we'd catch the guy," GoGo chimed in. "That's. It."
No, they … they weren't going to reach Hiro by telling him that.
But then, what was the right thing to say?
"I never should have let you help me!" Hiro shot back at them. "Baymax! Find Callaghan."
Baymax paused. Finally, he reported, "My enhanced scanner has been damaged."
Hiro scowled and climbed onto the robot's back. "Wings!" he barked.
"Hiro!" Fred tried. At least once, he had to. He had to try to say something. "This isn't part of the plan."
"Fly!"
"Hiro!" they cried, but they couldn't stop Baymax from rising up into the air and flying away with the youngest member of their makeshift team.
"How are we going to catch up with them?" Honey Lemon gasped.
"How are we even going to get off this island?" Wasabi just had to add.
Fred slipped an arm out of his costume to reach deep into his pocket. "If my phone didn't break, I'll call Heathcliffe and tell him to pick us up in the family chopper."
"And if it is broken?" GoGo asked testily.
Fred shrugged. "Then we might just have to swim." Really, what were they expecting him to say? He pulled the cell phone out. "But … ah!" he cried as it sang a familiar little tune. "It works!"
"Thank goodness," Honey Lemon sighed as Fred punched in the numbers.
"We have to get to Hiro fast," GoGo brooded. "Before he makes Baymax do something they can't take back."
"The little dude's real mad." Wasabi ran a hand down his face as he sat down on a piece of wreckage. "Though I don't think I can really blame him."
"We're all mad," GoGo shot before softening her voice a tad. "And we're all confused. I mean, the Professor…" she closed her eyes and turned her head up, hands clenching into tight fists.
"Heathcliffe'll be here in a few minutes!" Fred cut in. "Hopefully, we'll get there in time."
"Hopefully," Honey Lemon whispered as she wrapped her thin arms around herself.
.
They ignored the strange looks people gave them as they walked down the street – well, GoGo glared at the ones who looked a bit too long – and hurried down to the garage. There had been a not-so-small debate in the chopper over whether they should be dropped off nearer to Hiro's house, but in the end, Wasabi and Honey Lemon had won out with the argument that too many people would freak out if a helicopter suddenly appeared over the Hamada house.
Everyone was tense as they approached the garage. Was Hiro still even here? Was he still angry? Could they talk him down if he was?
GoGo placed a finger on her lips as they approached the garage.
"I'm so sorry, Baymax," Hiro's voice whispered from inside. "I guess I'm not so much like my brother, after all…" He stopped and turned, probably to the sound of their footsteps, and looked at them with pleading teary eyes. "Guys, I-"
But GoGo hugged him, they all did, and his words just seemed to evaporate.
"We'll catch Professor Callaghan," GoGo promised as they pulled back. "And this time, we'll do it right."
And as Fred took in Hiro's relieved face, he finally allowed himself to let go of his worry, because Hiro … he was going to be alright.
.
.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I apologize for any mistakes that may have slipped through the editing process. Feedback is very much appreciated.