Nothing to Show
The new lab space was larger than the previous space Hiro was kept in. It was also a lot busier. Hiro guessed it made sense seeing as he was now considered to be part of the team and was allowed to interact with the rest of the researchers on the project instead of being locked away and kept aside like the captive he was. In some ways it was better. It made him feel less isolated, less crazy but in other ways it was more difficult. Hiro didn't have the privacy he'd previously enjoyed. He was constantly being interrupted by researches asking him to explain the previous calculations he'd done leaving him with less time than anticipated to work on the current project at hand.
Hiro's confrontation with Alistair Krei had gone exactly according to plan and he'd managed to return to the time portal project on his own terms. Coming back willingly was certainly a lot better than being taken by force and tortured into doing what they wanted him to do. He'd been flown to the new lab in a private jet and had been allocated his own workstation right near the front. The lab was similar to the one he'd previously occupied and contained enough space for the twelve researches that were currently working on the project. The tinted window was also larger, providing a clearer view of the portal itself when in use. It was his second day in the lab and Hiro was still on edge. He'd managed to settle in fairly easily with the other researches but hadn't yet encountered the one person he'd expected to see.
Swish.
The lab door slid smoothly open immediately killing the chatter that had filled the space mere moments before. Someone important had clearly just entered. The hairs on the back of Hiro's neck rose, fear gripping his stomach as a dark voice whispered in his mind, informing him it was finally time. Swallowing past the dread in his throat, Hiro, oh so casually, swiveled his chair around running his eyes across the lab all while striking a cocky relaxed pose. Outwardly he was over confidence and control personified. "Well, well, fancy meeting you here." Hiro commented, breaking the silence when his gaze fell upon the one person he'd been waiting to stumble into.
Inquisitor stood in the doorway, two goons at his side. Hiro had never met either of them briefly making him wonder what had happened to the previous two that he'd managed to escape from. He quickly pushed the thought away, not really wanting to know the answer. "I see that you have returned to us, Mr Hamada." Inquisitor commented, running icy cold eyes over Hiro. He calmly made his way towards Hiro's desk stopping two steps away from him. He reached up and cracked his knuckles threateningly, watching Hiro carefully for a reaction.
Hiro quirked an eyebrow at the action, using the outward calm to hide the sheer terror beating a rapid rhythm within. "You can't beat me anymore. I'm not longer your captive. I'm your work colleague. Signed, sealed and delivered." Hiro declared, lifting his right foot to rest it on his left knee, using the leverage he gained to push the swivel chair he was seated in backward.
"That's what you think." Inquisitor replied, cracking his knuckles one more time before adjusting his suit and dropping his hands. "You may have Alistair Krei fooled but I don't believe your act for a minute." Inquisitor leant into Hiro's space, grinning manically at him, revealing the gold teeth that had been implanted to replace the ones Hiro had managed to knock out. "You're up to something and I'm going to find out what it is. You're bound to slip up sooner or later and I'll be waiting for you when you do."
Thud. Thud thud. Thud thud thud.
Keep calm. He's just trying to scare you. He likes to be in power, enjoys inflicting pain, likes thinking he has the upper hand, Hiro. Don't let him see he's affecting you. The words ran round and round in Hiro's mind, repeated over and over again in a bid to hide the real fear behind false bravado that Hiro couldn't afford to let slip. Not now, not before… Hiro returned the grin, eyes hard as they returned Inquisitor's hard stare. "I look forward to the challenge." He responded portraying a calm façade he was far from feeling.
Inquisitor's grin fell away, his eyes narrowing in response to the implied threat behind Hiro's words. Score: Five points – Hiro. Not about to leave it there, Inquisitor ran cold eyes down Hiro's body stopping at his ankle. "I see you managed to get the monitor off." He said smoothly, standing back up. "I'm sure it wasn't at all a painful experience." Those cold eyes shot back up boring into dim hazel eyes throwing a silent threat right back. Score: Ten points – Inquisitor.
Hiro bit his tongue, fighting his body's involuntary reaction to the memory of the pain that had coursed through him with the removal of the monitor. "Not at all." Hiro gave Inquisitor another grin, not about to let the man know that he'd managed to inflict pain onto Hiro even after Hiro's rescue. "All we needed was a scanner, some rubber, the right tools and two brilliant minds. Those traps you installed were child's play."
Inquisitor quirked a disbelieving eyebrow silently assessing Hiro. Hiro didn't even flinch. This was a battle of wills he was not about to lose. He couldn't afford to give himself away. There was too much riding on this for him to fail. "I see." Score: Seven points – Hiro. "I shall have to do something about that." With those words, Inquisitor turned and left leaving an awkward atmosphere behind.
Ignoring all the eyes staring at him, Hiro turned, swiveling his chair back around. Picking up a soldering iron he threw himself back into the project he'd been working on when he'd so rudely been interrupted. Lying on the table before him were several silver spheres, with chips and wires pouring out of them. The makings of an 'equalizer' for the time portal. Double entendre fully intended.
- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –
Cosmickatsu: Yes, Hiro does have his motives. Also... I agree, angry Dashi is awesome Dashi XD.
Guest: Perhaps your theory is not as crazy as you may think ;)
shooting2stars: It is a very tough job being the older sibling, especially when the younger sibling is Hiro! XD. Tadashi deserves the Big Brother of the Decade Award! Fred turned into a very interesting character in this story. I don't know if you have noticed but he has generally been the instigating factor to putting everyone on the right track all throughout the story. As for the rest of the gang, I also love how seamlessly they manage to work with Tadashi.
Ern Estine 13624: Our fluff-ball may be impulsive and may like living on the edge of what is legal but he is never bad at heart!
CrazyBlueOwl: Go Guest and CrazyBlueOwl *waves silly pom poms around pretending to look cool when in actual fact... * You need information on Oreo and Inquisitor? Who is Oreo? As for the reason for the time portal... Hiro has it right in the previous chapter... Basically Alistair Krei wants to bring back nuclear weapons and sell them to the highest bidders on the black market as he knows there are governments willing to make those kinds of deals just to gain a political upper hand. Does that make sense?
Anony mouse101: It's going to get a little more crazy before it ends ;)
