Kidnapped or saved? That's the question I need to answer today, in this, the next chapter of Blueprints of Ourselves. Also, sorry it's a day late, it was quite a big day yesterday and we didn't get back in time for me to upload properly. It was a long, long trip to see Hadrian's Wall.
King Ice: Oh, thank you so much! I hope you have time to go Airsofting at some point. I've never tried it, but it sounds pretty fun! I've had a pretty busy summer too, helping out at school with my mum. What have you been up to?
Rosycat: Thank you! You're lovely! I'm glad your story is going well, when I have reliable internet back, I'll have to check in and see how you're doing. Also, you'll have to link me to Allegiant, it sounds pretty cool and I'd love to give it a go!
Michaela: Cool! Hope you're enjoying it.
CrazyFeralVigilanteDragonLady: Oh, you got me! You're right, I did borrow that from Sherlock, but I thought it was a good way of showing the reader who's talking, so yeah. Creepy Moriarty stuff? Hopefully not, thank goodness! You won't have to worry about your nerve endings much longer, this fic is almost done!
The thing that woke Hiro was nothing more than the brush of fingertips across the back of his hand. A sensation he could grasp hold of in the spiralling nothingness of this drug-induced hell. The boy genius snatched hold of the feeling with all his might, using it like a rope to haul himself out of the black fog and towards the world outside his head. It was hard work, tiring, the sleep beckoning him back into it's comforting arms. His grip seemed to slip. But no, there it was again, the touch of soft skin, calling him ever upwards.
For the first time, he felt his breath, heaving in and out of his lungs, the shock hitching it in his throat. The fingers froze. Hiro heard the hush of a silky voice urge him onwards. Though he couldn't understand the words, the simple vibrations were comfort enough. He could feel his body now, the ache in his throat, the tingling of his legs just dying to move again. In his chest, he could feel the heavy pounding of his heart.
The longer he lay there, acknowledging each sense as it came back to him, the less the fat fingers of drowsiness scraped and pulled at him. He found he could taste the dirt on his tongue, smell the familiar must that laced the cool air around him and mingled with the odour of his sweat. He clenched his jaw, his sandpaper tongue scraping the inside of his mouth, eyelids twitching.
"Wakey wakey, little man."
His eyelids fluttered open, a groan passing his lips as his head falling to the side so that he could meet his friend's concerned gaze. A smirk tugged the corner of Wasabi's lips, and the boy returned a lop-sided grin, trying to tell him without speaking that he was fine. Beyond the physicist, he could see the outlines of movie prop monsters looming out of the half-light, reaching down from on high.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Wasabi quipped, poking his little friend playfully in the ribs. "You feeling alright?"
Hiro shrugged. "Maybe a little sick? I'm fine, though, really." He tried to ignore the harshness of his voice, beginning to look around more closely at his surroundings. Walls made of glass rose up around him, broken by the lines of shelves packed with comic books from ceiling to floor. He brushed the patched fabric of the red sofa he was lying on with gentle fingers. Fred's day room. So that was where the smell is coming from.
"I guess you'll feel a bit weird 'till you get the drug out of your system," The physicist nodded sagely. "You need anything, little man? Sick bag? Extra blankets?"
"A shower?" Hiro joked, his nose wrinkling as his eyes sparkled with laughter. Wasabi chuckled.
"Fred says you're welcome to anything," the older boy shrugged. "I gotta let everyone know you're up."
Hiro nodded, pushing the blankets back and swinging his legs onto the carpet, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that persisted. Grabbing a handful of Wasabi's cashmere cardigan, he hoisted himself onto his feet, carefully finding his balance and wobbling as he did so. A worried look crossed his companion's face.
"Dude, why do you keep doing this to yourself?" He asked belatedly. The boy genius eyed him with curiosity.
"Doing what? Putting myself in danger?" The teen huffed, running a hand through his mop of black hair. "I don't have a choice, not if I want to protect you guys."
"We don't need protecting; not if it means you're gonna get hurt," Wasabi reached out to place a hand on Hiro's back, steadying him as he wobbled again.
The boy gave him a weak smile. "We have to keep fighting. We don't know what will happen if we don't; to us or the city." He scowled to himself. "We've held back for too long. It's time to end this, and this time, we're gonna be one step ahead of them."
When the effects of the anaesthetic had finally worn off, Hiro wasted no time in getting up to start working. Ignoring the recommendations of his robot (who, despite expressing his wishes for Hiro to rest in no uncertain terms, still continued to watch on with curiosity), he connected his phone to the computer he had set up in Fred's day room and began furiously using all of his coding and skills to try to access Ryoushi's phone.
"Oh, sure, he withheld the number from me," He answered when Fred questioned him, "but that doesn't mean I still can't hack it."
"You can do that?" Fred looked awestruck, his eyes wide, like saucers.
Hiro scoffed. "You're looking at a certified computer genius. Of course I can!"
The mascot grinned. "So what are you looking for? Secret files? Passwords? Blueprints?"
Hiro shook his head with a chuckle, casting a smile over his shoulder. "No, I'm looking for Maya's phone number."
"What do you want her number for?" Fred's face crumpled with confusion.
"Because it's time we ended this," His young friend answered simply.
[Two Spires Hotel, 12 o'clock. Bring everything you've got – HH]
Maya didn't bother wondering how the little squirt had got her number. She was growing impatient and despairing, and this could be the last chance she had to capture that genius kid. Spinning on her heels, she strode out of the darkened room, passing through a dingy corridor lit by neon strip lights and filled with the stench of damp and desperation. The only thing keeping her feet dry was the strip of iron walkway that stretched across the length of the foetid pool below.
Beyond was a door so rotted it was surprising it hadn't crumbled to dust. God, she hated this place. She couldn't wait to be back in her comfy KETEC labs. More than that, she couldn't wait to be powerful. To be rich.
"Are they ready?" She asked, throwing the old door back against the wall with an imposing crash. The man in the room beyond looked up slowly from his place on the floor, his face moist with sweat. The space was filled with machines, computers and other pieces of technology, and with no extractor fans, the temperature rose to blistering heat quickly.
"I've encountered a few... problems," Karl sat up slowly, painfully, his old bones creaking in the moist atmosphere. He'd been lying on this damned floor for hours, tweaking. It felt good to move.
The woman's lip curled. "What do you mean, problems? You assured me you could get the Mk.3's working!"
"Yes, well, the damp is affecting the circuitry. If I could work somewhere dry, I'd have no problems."
"We don't have anywhere dry. You need to get them working." Maya folded her arms.
Karl huffed, reaching for the glass of water he'd left not far away. "You can't expect me to work like this..." he muttered grudgingly. His shaking fingers weren't able to reach the glass before the pointed toe of Maya's boot knocked it over and the contents spilled all over the floor.
"Oops," She taunted, then continued, ignoring the furious gaze she received. "I expect you to work in any conditions. That's what you're here for." The glare the woman in black gave him almost seemed to lower the room's temperature a degree. "Unless, that is, you don't want to work here anymore. In which case, I'm sure I could just drop you off at the nearest police station..."
The old man growled and grumbled. "Okay, you've made your point. Why is this so important, all of a sudden?"
"Because a certain young genius got hold of my phone number, and now I need them working by the afternoon or we're both as good as dead."
Hiro slid down from Baymax's back and onto the roof of the city's newest building project, careful to avoid the others as they too disembarked. The boy looked around, getting a sense of his surroundings. The Two Spires wasn't even completed yet: As it was, it only had one half of a spire, the other beginning to take shape beside it. The boy genius carefully got his balance on the iron girders beneath his feet. No, he certainly didn't pick an easy place for this.
The scaffold rose several feet above the shell of the building taking shape below it. They were already at least 15 floors up, surpassing the tops of the smaller, squatter buildings surrounding them. He looked down. Two storeys below, there was a floor, but the ones further up had yet to be built. Beside him, Go Go crouched to inspect the structure.
"Good call, genius," She scowled her disapproval. "Skating's gonna be fun around here."
"And look! I can bounce up from below, like a sneak attack!" Obviously not aware of the sarcasm dripping from his teammate's voice, Fred stepped from the pole he was balanced on, bracing as he dropped, hit the bare floor below and bounced back up beside Wasabi, who was looking rather nervous about the hight of the structure.
"Sneak attack!" the mascot cried jubilantly as he slapped his friend on the shoulder before falling down once again.
"Fred! That is completely reckless! And irresponsible! And dangerous!" The physicist screeched, his voice rising in panic when his balance was thrown.
"Besides, sneak attacks only work if you're silent," the mechanic pointed out, an almost-amused look crossing her face.
"Guys, shh!" Their leader hushed them, scanning the sky. He then turned to his robotic companion. "You see anything yet, buddy?"
"I cannot detect the life signs you have requested," The robot told him, sounding almost dismayed. The boy muttered in annoyance, looking up as he noticed the tall figure appear at his shoulder.
"Why here, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy was aware of the rest of the team looking up, taking notice, curious of the answer themselves.
He simply shrugged. "They don't work here on a Tuesday," he replied easily, brushing off the question. "Besides, anything they bring with them is gonna have to work hard to fight us on this ground. We need all the help we can get."
He pretended to ignore the uneasy look that passed between the girls, turning instead to look out at the sea, far away on the horizon. He caught the familiar hum of Baymax's sensor as he once again scanned the city. What the boy wasn't expecting, however, was for his robot to turn to him sharply, fixing him with bright, intelligent oculars.
"Hiro, I have detected Maya Okinawa."
Yes, battle time! This fic is finally reaching its end! It's been a heck of a journey, and if I do another fic, it sure as hell won't be this long! Thank you again to everyone who reads this, everyone who reviews and those that have stuck with me, beginning to nearly-end. Thank you all so much!