I'm Okay

Chapter Seven

He felt like he was moving. Only, he wasn't; at least he didn't think he was. Why was his mind so unbelievably foggy and slow? More and more questions formed in his mind but his mouth wasn't cooperating with him, he couldn't voice any of them. What the hell was going on?

He attempted to move, but his body was just a lead-heavy as his mind. He couldn't even open his eyes, eyes he had no recollection of closing. One minute, Krei was handing him a bottle of water and the next, now.

Wait a minute! He thought to himself after an eternity of thinking. Did they drug me? I distinctly remember having issues opening the cap to the bottle! And he did have issues, but that had to do more with the fact that he had machine oil all over his hands from working on a piece of the portal. Had that not been on his hands, the cap would have opened with too much ease, not even that satisfying pop as the temper-evident band sounded. But he had other things on his mind, and hands, to really pay attention to that teeny, tiny detail.

He didn't remember anything after that, safely assuming he blacked out again because when he woke up, he was once more locked in a room, a room that was not the room he was used to. This one was smaller, and the walls were actual cinderblocks and the floor was cold, hard cement, and the little light in the corner was different.

Tadashi sat up, slowly, like he was moving through mud and gave the space around him a questioning look. Where the hell was he now?

He heard noises outside the door to the room he was in. He managed to stand up and make his way over to it, only tripping over himself twice. "Let me out!" Tadashi slammed his fist against the door. He knew Callaghan had to be the one that was out there. "I did what you told me, now let me out!"

Silence was the only reply given to him.

The twenty-one year old ground his teeth together. This entire thing was getting ridiculous. He did was Callaghan told him to do – he ripped apart Hiro's Microbots, he fixed the part of the portal he was told to work on. He's done and he just wants to go home.

"Callaghan, this isn't funny. Now. Let. Me. Out!" Tadashi tried again to gain the man's attention.

It was shocking to see this side of the former professor. At SFIT, Callaghan was one of the nicest people Tadashi had ever met, he had patience beyond something the student had ever seen, and when a student asked for his help with something Callaghan practically dropped whatever he was doing and assisted them.

Its funny when you think you know someone, at least on some level beyond acquaintance, and half a heartbeat later, they're turning the world upside down and taking you hostage with it.

There was a click and the door swung open; for a moment, a small ray of hope shined in Tadashi's mind, thinking maybe, he would be let out. But it quickly died when Callaghan stood there, just a few inches taller than Tadashi, glaring at him.

Before the student knew it, a hand was wrapped around his throat, and was pinned to a wall.

"If you don't shut up, you won't be leaving at all." The older man growled, tightening his hold on the Hamada.

Tadashi struggled to pull the man's hand off his neck, desperately needing oxygen. When he couldn't pry the hand away, he decided to kick out, hoping to knock the grown man off of him. It took a few kicks, but he was finally able to hit something that should only ever be treated nicely. Immediately, both former professor and student dropped to the floor – one trying to catch his breath, and the other one trying to breathe through pain.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Tadashi rasped out, fire burning in his brown eyed glare.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught both men's attention.

Krei stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the two on the floor. "I hate to break up whatever fight you two are having at the moment, but Robert, we have an issue that you need to go take care of."

There was something in the way the Krei said that that raised a flag in Tadashi's mind.

"And what," Callaghan groaned as he tried to sit up. "What would that be?"

Krei glanced over at Tadashi, who was pushing himself as far away from Callaghan as he could get. "There are some visitors that have just arrived that are looking for you."

Callaghan let out a huff before pushing himself off the floor and almost crawling out the door.

"I would be quiet, if I were you." The tech giant advised Tadashi before he closed the door, leaving Tadashi alone once more.

(-)

Tadashi was fast asleep when he was roughly pulled off his cot.

"Th' hell?" Tadashi mumbled as he tried to wake up and walk at the same time. "Le' go!" He tried to pull out of whoever's grasp.

"Be quiet!" Callaghan's voice rang in his ear, waking Tadashi up. "Had a mishap with the portal. You're going to fix it. Again." The man spoke through clenched teeth, his hand digging painfully into Tadashi's arm as he was yanked down the hallway.

Tadashi didn't argue this time; flashes of last time appeared in his mind, and the way Callaghan spoke – something told the young adult not to challenge the professor at the moment. "Okay." He muttered as he tripped.

"Good." Was all the older man said.

Tadashi didn't have to do much to the actual exterior of the portal he'd been fixing, it was mostly internal stuff that had gotten damaged, like some kind of chemical had been on it; but Tadashi wasn't going to question anything at the moment, Callaghan had been stomping around while Tadashi had been working, not leaving the Hamada by himself for a second. And the recently named villain kept muttering to himself under his breath, things Tadashi couldn't quite catch, but he did hear 'damn kids' quite a few times.

When he had gotten done repairing the exterior, Callaghan let him work on the internal stuff back in the room he'd been locked in, the only things he had to fix was a motherboard looking thing with a bunch of wire and possible places to connect them.

And he wasn't having the easiest time on it either. While the first time he fixed the part of the portal he had been told, it only took Tadashi a few days; but by the way Callaghan kept asking, commenting, checking in on the wires, it was taking Tadashi more than just a few days.

"Why aren't you done with those yet?" The sharp, irritated voice of Callaghan came from behind Tadashi.

The young man jumped in his chair, nearly knocking over the little table he was hunched over, the laptop on the surface sliding with the sudden movement. He turned to face the former professor behind him. "What?" He tried to keep the fear inside from showing through his expression, but his voice trembled slightly. "It's a lot more complicated than it looks now." He tried to defend himself, but ended up mentally face palming; that was just another thing for Callaghan to use against Tadashi and drag Hiro into everything.

Callaghan's face showed indifference, as if Tadashi was nothing but a mere wall in his way; metaphorically, Tadashi was. "One more day, mister Hamada." He leaned down so he was at the younger's level. "One more day then I'll bring your brother in. Move." He pushed Tadashi out of his way to see the computer screen, checking his former student's progress, just like the days before.

Tadashi looked over the man to see the door wide open. It took him less than a second to decide not to quickly formulate a plan, and just knock Callaghan over and run like a bat out of hell.

Silently, the twenty-one year old took in a deep breath, brought his arm up and quickly brought his elbow down just underneath Callaghan's jaw. Tadashi jumped up, swiftly kicking his former professor behind the knee, the older man losing his balance and trying to stop his fall by grabbing the table. Tadashi took the chance to start running out the door.

He wish he would have thought it through at least a little bit, he had no idea where he was, had no idea what this building was. He didn't know if he was even running towards a way out as he kept turning corners, twisting his way away from Callaghan.

Tadashi also wished he had remembered that Callaghan had a military background. But of course that thought didn't hit him until Callaghan did, both of them sprawling to the floor in a heap of limbs trying to get the upper hand over the other set.

A few minutes of scuffle, Tadashi found himself pinned face down to the floor both arms behind his back, Callaghan holding him in place.

"That was an even bigger mistake, Tadashi." Callaghan hissed out between clenched teeth, leaning his weight onto Tadashi to get his point across. He yanked the boy up, pulling on his arms, ignoring the very audible crack that came from one of Tadashi's shoulders, and smirking at the pained noise that came from the smaller male.

While he may be held in a hold that severely limited his arm mobility, Tadashi sure as hell wasn't going back into that room with out a fight. He tried to twist his way out of Callaghan's hold, and when that didn't work, he reverted to trying to kick the man.

And that didn't go well.

"Would you stop that?" Callaghan snapped when his leg was kicked for the umpteenth time in that hallway. He slammed the young adult into the wall, dazing the poor man. "I've had enough of you petty attempts at getting out. We're on an island, you wouldn't be able to get off if you tried." He hissed into Tadashi's ear. "So stop it."

Tadashi, not truly believing that statement, gave it one last try at bucking out of Callaghan's hold.

That got him knocked out and dragged back to the room.