Hey, guys! Here's chapter 7, and I hope you all enjoy. Things are hopefully really starting to kick off in this chapter! Well, at least I think so... but realistically, I planned what was happening in this chapter to happen in like chapter 3, so you know, plans change and all that. But I hope you enjoy.

To Asome (Hey, there, don't give up! I'm sure you're smart enough to get in. Keep reading lots, watch documentaries, experience life. If at first you don't succeed, keep trying. One day, all the hard work will pay off!)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited, alerted and read this fic. The growing numbers of readers on this is truly amazing, and I can't thank you all enough!

And to Dirtkid123, thank you for being a consistent reader from the beginning, I am always grateful to see your reviews in my emails!

Enjoy!

Xxxxx

Chapter 7

Wasabi followed Hague with caution, he wanted to be so happy, to be so excited to see Hiro, but something just didn't sit right with him. The deputy commander had been so adamant that they wouldn't be allowed to see him, and he doubted that Fred's name alone could give them so much power and authority in these camps. So, he had to wonder what they really wanted with them, and why they were being allowed to be so free.

Wasabi hoped that the others had noticed this, and were picking up on this. He didn't want to break any kind of cover that they had, or to raise any more suspicion than they already had. Wasabi had already began planning exactly what he wanted to say to Hiro, he had so many things to tell him, so many things to ask him. It was strange how they were all so much older than him, but Hiro was the one person that Wasabi felt he wanted to get guidance from.

Looking up at the faces around him, Wasabi shuddered to think of all that they had been through, and all that they would go through in the times coming. He couldn't stand to see the sea of defeat in front of him, and he couldn't begin to imagine the despair and defeat they all felt. He noticed the look on Hiro's face, he recognized the attitude, and hoped that the look was not a permanent fixture, that Hiro would pull through.

If not, he had no idea how he would begin to explain how much he had let Tadashi down in looking after his brother.

Xxxxx

Hiro groaned, feeling the pounding grow and grow within his head. He felt the blood dribbling from his nose and his ears and hoped with all his might that this was the end. The room had been darkened, thankfully, to dampen the headache, but Hiro knew it would do him no good.

Suddenly, a light shone in the room, and Hiro reflexively tried to reach his hand out to cover his eyes before realizing they were still tied to the chair.

'Congratulations, you have visitors, so you're session will end early today.' Blake told him as he allowed people into the room. Hiro didn't say anything, knowing from experience that these visitors could be anyone and could potentially want to do anything to him.

Blinking in an attempt to try to clear his vision to the sudden light in the room coming from the doorway, Hiro only saw shadows of people. Blake sighed as he went to the light switch.

'You have ten minutes, don't undo his restraints, he's not allowed to leave the chair,' Blake said to them, 'be warned, this one's a trouble maker.'

There was no reply as the room was illuminated and Hiro finally got a chance to see the people who had entered the room.

Hiro wanted to let his mouth drop, to let himself grin and try to reach out to them, but he knew he had a role to play and he didn't want to mess this up for them. He let his face remain slack and unresponsive as Blake left the room with the other wardens leaving Hiro with the gang alone.

'Hiro.' Honey Lemon whispered and Hiro focused on her, noticing the way she held herself. She was unsure, she didn't know what to do in this situation.

'We found you,' Fred added, a huge grin on his face. 'Dude, do you know how long we searched for you?'

'I told you guys not to look for me.' Hiro said them, 'to leave me here.'

But even though he said it, he knew with all his might that he had always wanted them to come and look for him no matter what he had said to them. And they knew that, too.

'We would never leave you here.' Wasabi reassured him, and Hiro felt a warm glow surge through him, in a way he had not felt in quite some time.

'Yeah, what did you think we would do, knucklehead?' Gogo added. 'We've not stopped looking since the day you left.'

Hiro felt a smile grow on his face.

'How's Aunt Cass?' He asked, looking around at the friends around him. The friends he hoped against all hope throughout his life that he would one day find.

'She's doing okay, given the circumstances. She wishes she could see you.' Honey Lemon told him.

Hiro cast his eyes down to his knees, he remembered the last time he had seen Aunt Cass and it had not been good. He'd naively hoped that by leaving things would be so much better for her. But over time, he'd come to grow and understand that sometimes things like this just didn't happen.

'That's good.' Hiro chocked out, feeling the pain in his back intensify with the pounding in his skull.

'How are you doing, Hiro?' Honey Lemon asked him, looking at him with worry.

'Better,' Hiro explained. 'I've learnt how to manage in this place.'

Honey Lemon cringed, she wasn't really sure what kind of answer she was looking for, but she was hoping for a better response than that. She wanted him to tell her that he was still fighting, that he was working on a way out of here. Never surrendering.

'What do you do here?' Fred asked, trying to break some of the tension mounting in the room.

'Work, usually. We have a routine that never breaks.' Hiro told him, 'it's mostly stuff in the fields in the fences. We make our own food as much as possible so we're not too much of a burden.'

'But, what's the point of it all?' Gogo asked.

'To not be seen.' Hiro told her, 'let me ask you something, had any of you heard of these places until you actually came looking?'

'No, and we had to search. The San Fransokyo Government is covering it up big time. The people of San Fransokyo think you're all being displaced and separated across the countries, or back to Japan.' Gogo explained, 'not that many of them care, of course.'

'But, there are factions, riots beginning. Not everyone agrees with what's going on.' Honey Lemon added.

'It's a bit late at this point for people to start caring about us.' Hiro replied, bitterly.

'The American government say they're trying to dispel the tension, but we've basically been cut off. They're trying not to associate with us, even though other countries are trying to get in to help. No one's accepting anything, yet.' Honey Lemon told Hiro, gaining confidence that Hiro was not going to break into tiny pieces if she looked at him for more than two minutes.

'That's not really surprising, considering everything that was happening even before I went. I mean, how long has it been now, five or six months since I left?' Hiro said exasperatedly. Honey Lemon took careful note on the wording Hiro had used, guessing that perhaps he'd not been solely on this camp for this long.

'It's been six months, nearly seven.' Wasabi told him.

'From what I can tell from being here, this kind of thing had been growing steadily for a lot longer than we think. These places don't just pop up overnight.' Hiro told them, 'but the people who work here are slightly uncooperative when it comes to telling me anything.'

'So, have you got any plans?' Wasabi asked him, trying to break the growing tension in the room.

'Plans?'

'You know, for how we're going to get you out of here?' Fred asked excitedly. 'You know, I could totes pull one over on them and get you out of here.'

'I can't leave, Fred.' Hiro told him.

'Why not?' Gogo asked quickly.

'Because, there are so many more people here than just me. If I go, they all go with me. I'm not leaving anyone else here.' Hiro told her, I'm not letting anyone suffer the way I have. No one will go through what I have in this room.

Wasabi looked at Hiro, and saw the old flicker of determination. The look of a child who had fallen, but would pick himself back up again. The look of a man who would not back down, no matter the circumstances.

'TWO MINUTES!' Blake shouted from somewhere in the distance, and Hiro flinched. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the rest.

'Okay, hit me.' Hiro suddenly said, looking each of them in the eye.

'What? Why?' Honey Lemon asked, shocked.

'Why do you think?' Hiro asked her. 'Why do you think they let you in here?'

A moment of horror passed through the group. They couldn't just hit him.

'Guys, they're planning on coming in here, and expecting me to be a little roughed up. They're going to be suspicious if you don't.' Hiro pleaded with them. 'So, just hit me. A big one on the face, maybe another cracked rib or two. Make it look like you were doing something to me.'

'Hiro…' Wasabi began, 'you can't just expect us to do that.'

'I can, and they do. So just do it. We're running out of time.' Hiro ordered. 'Besides, I can take it. It's not like I don't have any practice.'

Wasabi sighed, looking around the group. Honey Lemon he knew wouldn't do it, Fred wouldn't either. He thought Gogo would have a go at it if she knew no one else would, but he felt that this was something that just couldn't be avoided. He knew they should have come here with a better plan, found a different way around it, but they were stuck.

'Wasabi, just, please. Do it for me.' Hiro said, looking him directly in the eye.

'Okay, but don't come crying to me when it hurts too bad.' Wasabi replied, laughing nervously as he tried to make a joke of it.

Wasabi lifted his arm, as the rest of the group moved behind him. Hiro kept his eye, and didn't back down, even as Wasabi moved his arm. The only moment they broke eye contact was when Hiro's face was jerked to the side, a new cut forming on his cheekbone.

Spitting blood, Hiro turned to look at him and gave him a grin, showing the blood stained his teeth.

'You throw a good punch, there.' Hiro told him. 'Okay, aim for my stomach this time.'

Wasabi cringed, hating the feeling of Hiro's blood on his fist, but he raised his arm one more time. One more time for their safety, for Hiro's safety. Bringing his fist down quickly, he jabbed Hiro in the stomach. He looked up, and saw Hiro reflexively trying to cover his stomach, but he couldn't, and a part of him shattered. This was what it was like to betray a friend; this was what it was like to break a promise. He looked to the ceiling of the cabin and prayed to Tadashi, he apologized, he had not done enough. But for certain things would change, he would not fail again.

'So,' Blake said barging into the room. 'How was he?'

'Completely uncooperative.' Wasabi replied, wiping Hiro's blood into his shirt. He saw Blake follow the movement and grin.

'Give him a lesson for it?' Blake laughed.

'We did,' Wasabi replied. 'But we need more time. So, I'm asking to speak to the commander for permission for us to begin work here, starting as soon as possible.'