Dust Settled Around Us

This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to play out like this. They had done everything they could, taken every precaution yet here they were in a situation that wasn't supposed to be playing out.

"I cut him! I cut him!" Wasabi exclaimed turning the cutter off before throwing it across the room. "Oh… Oh no, he's bleeding!" He began to shake, on the verge of passing out. "I need to call 911. I have to stem the flow. Have to…"

"Wasabi!" Tadashi yelled in an attempt to cut the African man off. He needed to think and Wasabi's rant was making it difficult to concentrate. They'd somehow accidentally managed to set the device off sending an electrical current through Hiro and Tadashi who had been in contact with Hiro at the time. It had hurt. It had hurt a lot but now was not the time to be thinking about that. What was that Wasabi had said? Hiro was bleeding?

Tadashi looked down in sudden panic, his breath catching in his throat at the sheer amount of blood that covered Hiro's left lower leg. "Baymax!" Tadashi attempted to push himself up, Hiro still firmly in his grasp only to fall back down when his muscles refused to obey. It hurt. Every muscle in his body ached and burned.

Ignoring the weakness and pain, he tried again, this time actually managing to stand. He swayed, awkwardly adjusting Hiro's weight in his arms as he contemplated the stairs he would need to climb to get to Baymax and help.

"Here let me help." Wasabi offered reaching out to take Hiro from Tadashi.

"I've got him." Tadashi said taking a shaky step towards the stairway.

"You look like you're about to pass out." Wasabi reasoned trying to lift Hiro out of Tadashi's arms.

Tadashi tightened his grip, refusing to let go. "I said, I've got him!" He snapped, glaring daggers at Wasabi, silently daring him to continue.

"Ok, I get the message." Wasabi lifted his arms and backed away from Tadashi, staring at him out of wide, disbelieving eyes.

Tadashi ignored him and resumed his stumbling pace, shoulder hitting the wall just as he attempted to take the first step. "Baymax!" He tried again forcing his body up one step at a time. He'd get Hiro upstairs and to help even if it killed him. Thankfully the likelihood of death was low. Unless he fell down the stairs that it. Maybe he should have accepted Wasabi's offer to help after all.

Squeak, Squeak, Squeak, Squeak, Squeak squeak squeak.

Relief coursed through him at the all too familiar sound. Baymax appeared at the top of the stairs seconds later. "I was alerted to a sound of distress. I will scan you now." Baymax informed him the moment he had Tadashi in sight. Baymax was heading down the stairs mere moments later. Reaching out he scooped Tadashi's up along with Hiro before turning to make his way back up the stairs.

"No! Buddy! You're only supposed to take Hiro." Tadashi exclaimed in surprise his face now squished against Hiro's hair.

"Both you and Hiro require medical attention." Baymax responded, not even pausing on his way up the stairs. "I will ensure that both of you receive the required care." Baymax fell silent, waddling the rest of the way up the stairs before placing Tadashi and Hiro onto Hiro's bed. How he managed to get past Aunt Cass without being spotted, Tadashi would never know.

"Please remain still while I go fetch the required equipment to take care of Hiro's injury." Baymax turned and left the room.

Tadashi immediately sat up and pulled Hiro back into his lap trying to look past all the blood in order to inspect the injury. He didn't get very far before Baymax returned a bucket with cool water and a cloth in hand. Tadashi watched as Baymax washed the blood away. "What is the extent of the injury?" Tadashi asked.

"Hiro has only suffered a minor cut accompanied by a minor burn."

Relief coursed through Tadashi with the information. No serious harm had been done. He fell silent and continued to watch as Baymax applied three stitches and some burn cream to the wound before carefully wrapping it, securing the bandage neatly as soon as he was done. "Patient care has been administered." Baymax informed him stepping back. "It is recommended that you both get some rest in order to recover from the unexpected shock." That said, the healthcare companion picked up the bucket and cloth and left the room.

Tadashi ran a finger over the bandage, watching Hiro as he slept. He was so lost in thought he didn't even hear the timid steps that approached, or the soft knock that followed. "I'm sorry." Wasabi's voice startled Tadashi. "I didn't mean to injure him. I wasn't prepared for the device to activate. I was under the impression we'd found and taken care of all the triggers. Appears we missed one."

Tadashi glanced up to meet the guilty expression on Wasabi's face. He shook his head. "It's not your fault. We took every precaution before attempting to remove the device. You did a good job. Hiro is going to be fine. It's only a shallow cut and the blasted monitor is now disposed of. I don't think I would have managed such a clean cut considering the circumstances." He admitted.

Wasabi gave him an awkward smile. "I'm glad the little guy's going to be okay." He turned intending to leave now that his purpose had been accomplished.

"Hey! Wasabi!" Tadashi called out stopping him.

Wasabi turned to face him a questioning expression on his face.

"Thanks." Tadashi nodded towards Hiro. "For everything."

"Any time." Wasabi replied, and then he was gone.

Tadashi sighed, the stress and exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him. Lying down he dropped an arm over Hiro's waist. He'd just lie here for a few minutes watching his brother sleep and then he'd go take a nap on the couch. Just a few minutes to confirm they were both OK. That's all he needed.

Tadashi fell asleep.

- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –

Cosmickatsu: It's ok. Hiro is ok. Tadashi is ok. Hope your phone is ok too.

Anony mouse101: Glad the chapter was written well enough to elicit a reaction XD. Hope you liked the fluff in the follow up.

Ern Estine 13624: Hiro is fine. Tadashi is fine and Wasabi will eventually get over the fact that he messed up.

shooting2stars: Yeah, Tadashi would walk through fire for his brother. I also really enjoyed writing the Wasabi/Tadashi tag team. I think they work really well together.

Kiki Anderson: I also like using confuzzled... Do you need me to explain anything? Feel free to PM me any questions you might have and I'll see what I can do about answering them... without spoiling what is to come of course.

CrazyBlueOwl: I read over them, don't stress. I like your theory but I'm going to have to pop it. Hiro hasn't really managed to figure out how to transport people through the portal so fetching Hitler wouldn't be possible with what he has managed to figure out thus far.

Dreamer: All my stories tend to do that and end up taking me for a ride as well. Some chapters end up being incredibly hard to write as a result because I get too emotionally invested. Hope the explanation in this chapter is sufficient to answer your query about the ankle monitor XD. Best wishes to you and your family as well for this festive season. We open our pressies on the 24th! YAY!

Rosycat: I have really enjoyed slipping in Fred's wisdom in random ways into this story. I like how he has grown as a character and like playing with the idea that he is smarter than he appears to be.