Chapter 16
AN: Just as a warning, this chapter will have a section with some depressing thoughts of despair, from a character I have not highlighted before. First time actually writing from his POV too as an actual character...
Still in complete disbelief, GoGo swore under her breath again when she reached the IT Labs. More and more lately, she had felt like the second one in command, and right now, all she could think about were ideas on what to do next. This game of cat and mouse had to end. She was done with the waiting.
GoGo was in so much of a rush, she hopped back on her bike inside the hallway to get to her lab station faster. After leaning the bike against her workstation, the speedster slung off her backpack to look for Hiro's ID badge in her bag. A few more colorful words were uttered when she remembered it was in her jacket.
All this was enough for Wasabi, who was in the adjacent workstation, to look up from his laptop when she stormed by.
"Hey, what happened?" he called after the engineering student, clearly noticing something wasn't right.
She didn't stop to talk on her way to Hiro's lab. There wasn't time to explain, and if Hiro did not want to bother telling any of them, why should she?
"GoGo.. hey!" the physicist put aside his headphones to follow after her through the hallway and up through the stair well.
Great… now Wasabi. Why does it have to be Wasabi...
"Someone stole Baymax," she told him briskly, swiping the card.
Wasabi swore while following her inside. "Is Hiro okay?"
GoGo looked over to him for a second before answering. "No. He got beat up."
"Damn…" Wasabi pressed a hand to his forehead. "I warned him to be more careful with Baymax, for that reason."
"Well, I guess that didn't phase him any…" she responded curtly. GoGo paused a moment, looking over the cluttered lab until she spotted a specific metal block over by the worktable. Mega-Z. She also searched for another thing, but didn't see it anywhere. The shorter student knitted her brows and crossed her arms as she confirmed her suspicions.
So when was the little nerd going to tell me my laptop was also stolen?
"How did it happen?" he asked her next, seemingly becoming evermore distressed.
Whether it was just the news alone upsetting him, or that along with the disorganized state of Hiro's lab, she assumed either way. Hiro completely did not have that sense of organization that Tadashi had. Plus this was the first time in a long time Wasabi was inside this lab after Hiro started.
GoGo finally sighed, wondering how many different times she was going to have to explain what Hiro failed to not? Purposefully not answering, she picked up a tool from the table that looked like what was on his additional list of items that he texted to her.
"Did this just happen?" Wasabi asked again in a different way, trying to grab her attention.
"No… it happened last night," GoGo turned, shaking the ratchet at him. "Hiro had been in the hospital all this time, and he didn't bother to tell me that until I met him at his place.. an hour ago!"
"What?"
"Yeah," GoGo crossed her arms again as she nodded. "He only called Fred, and then convinced him not to tell us."
"Why? This is serious!"
"That's what makes me wonder what really happened!" she stood up, throwing her hands in the air.
"What did they tell you?" his eyes were intently fixed on her in his attempt to make sense of this, now that she was talking more.
"Hiro claimed he fell asleep on the subway, and didn't wake up until he was downtown. While waiting for the train back, they jumped him on the platform," she explained, pacing a few steps as she did.
"And Baymax was with him? How come he wasn't able to stop them?"
"He said he was in case-mode, and then something kept him from activating."
"And somehow, they just so happened to know he was there..?" Wasabi was just relentless with the questions. "Didn't we have a tracker on them? Who was watching that?"
GoGo faced him, trying to not also get mad about the fact that no one actively kept tabs on the tracker, let alone talk to each other about it. She couldn't even go away for a weekend without everything going to hell. "Hiro and Fred. Fred mostly, with his Dad's tech. Except he forgot to check up on it after Saturday!"
Wasabi groaned, starting to see why she was so short of being livid.
"What gets me… is that Fred claimed that Hiro wasn't tagged last night. Unless, Baymax was...?"
"He does have cell phone tech," Wasabi mentioned, which was a valid point. That could be traced regardless.
"I still can't believe Hiro didn't tell us right away," GoGo huffed, ending her thought in such a way as to indicate she was done with that conversation. She found a small discarded box by the trashcan to put more tools in and set it on the table. Something about that had bothered her a little, reminding her of when they had to pack up Tadashi's belongings.
"How bad did he get hurt?" the big guy stepped closer, his tone softer.
GoGo just shook her head, not really in the mood to answer that. She tried to distract herself with the task at hand, but it didn't help. Just thinking again about Hiro looking so hurt and afraid, it angered her in a way she could not explain. Nor could she believe that Hiro actually got out of the hospital already. Their young leader simply looked horrible, and it scared her to imagine it could have been worse. He could have been killed.
The speedster looked up to see that Wasabi was watching her more closely. She couldn't hide it anymore, she felt on edge and he saw right through her façade. The physicist sensed how worried she was about Hiro, even though she never openly admitted that to him. He just knew that it's not good for the team in the long run if she kept storming around mad.
"Hey.. Soomin, I'm sure Hiro's going to be okay," he put a hand on her shoulder. Those words were a given... of course Hiro will be okay. In time. But it was the way it happened that wasn't fair. This was the last thing the younger Hamada needed after everything else that had happened to him.
"I know. It's just.. Hiro's out of commission.. too," she breathed, lifting up her eyes to meet his soft brown ones. For some damn reason, Wasabi's reassuring proximity like this was causing her emotions to choke her up.
"We'll figure this out, kanojo," he moved in and wrapped his strong, comforting arms around her body. Her mind just wanted to give in totally to him, but her heart still resisted. There's no going back to this, with Wasabi. Gogo's heart ached too much for Hiro now, even if he was still only a boy who couldn't provide this same kind of safety and strength.
Just.. stop it. Dammit. Stop. Her eyes did not listen at all and welled up with tears that rolled down her cheeks. GoGo clenched her jaw, doing all she can to keep from crying more. Angry tears, that's what they were.
"If Hiro asked you to take his project home, I can help," Wasabi pulled away to tell her, only to notice her tears. He gently wiped them away with his thumb while cupping her cheek. The warmth from his hands on her face reassured her, she hated to admit. "I don't feel comfortable with you going back out, alone, with his tech."
GoGo couldn't say anything now, not without her voice wavering. What if she did go alone? What if she wanted them to pursue after her so she could give them what they deserved. Running and hiding from them was not her style. She can't let them believe that they had the upper hand.
"Plus.. I helped Hiro clean up his garage on Saturday," he smiled a little now, as if that was going to get her to cheer up. He was wrong, even if that meant one less thing to worry about.
GoGo sniffed back, drawing in a breath, and turned around to look for the rest of the items that Hiro needed. It was then it occurred to her that Wasabi had not seen Hiro's new robot either.
"Is this it? " he was now looking at the steel colored case, then walked over to study it closer.
She thought about being sarcastic, but nothing particular came to mind. So GoGo just nodded in agreement.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The surroundings in this plane of existence was void of color, warmth, and natural sunlight. Everything was like as it had been from his own world, but much emptier. The best way he could describe it, if he had to, was that it felt like going into the Titanic after it had been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for decades. The only way he could feel something that had life and color was when he was close to a living being in the other realm, the living world he once knew.
Scientifically speaking, Tadashi did not consider himself to be dead. However, his own form was not physically real either. He could see his body, but he could not actually feel it. His t-shirt and jeans were threadbare now, but he wasn't cold nor could he feel injury or hunger. He just felt numb. The one thing that did ache was his heart, the mental agony of watching his little brother and aunt deal with his absence, by themselves. Any time he tried to reach out to them for comfort, he could not. They were just wisps of air in his hands... echoes of a dream quickly forgotten.
Because of this, the elder Hamada felt like he had died and gone to hell, his crimes unjustified. He had not been able to find a way back out from whatever forsaken prison this place had become. While it seemed like a good idea at the time to save himself from the fiery inferno, he so much regretted jumping through that portal to escape the burning convention hall now. Dying really would have been a better option. Death had resolute, it would bring peace to his conscience. And because that was how they believed him to be. But in this place, he could not find even Death.
His existence was agony, because he also had discovered that if he let his raw emotions and anger take over, he literally found himself ablaze in flames. But no matter how hot they raged, the insatiable fire never consumed him. The only answer he could even fathom for this, was that when he went through the portal, the fire, or something experimental from the explosion, had fused with the molecules of his body when he rematerialized on the other side. But it all made no sense, really.
In the time he had, he discovered a lot of things in his efforts to try to reach out to his small family. Hiro was his main concern, and found he could influence his little brother's dreams. Kind of… sometimes getting the right message across was very hard to do, because of how imaginative Hiro was. Then if the boy actually stopped his incessant downward spiral of moping and fretting for a flipping moment, and just stopped to actually listen. Just breathed, and waited, then Tadashi's words of reassurance could make sense.
The day Tadashi figured out that he had better luck in manipulating things psionically, especially the circuits in Baymax, his spirits were lifted by a thousand percent. Hiro had actually latched on to the robot almost immediately and began to live more normally again. The elder Hamada had let Baymax operate on his protocols for the most part, because it took a lot of energy to completely override everything all the time. Tadashi only took over when he felt that he really had to.
Of course, the events that happened as a result were above and beyond anything he would have ever guessed. The superhero idea was something he would have never guessed happening, but everything that Callaghan had done needed to be stopped in some way. In turn, he became fully supportive of wanting Hiro and his friends to apprehend him, and set things right.
Tadashi also understood why Callaghan had made Hiro so upset. They never saw it coming. Callaghan's insane selfishness angered him just as much! But he never wished for Hiro, any of them, to do something they would deeply regret later. He could not let that happen, ever.
Just like now.
How did he end up in this position, quite literally fighting for his life to protect Baymax all over again? The lengths he went to for his little brother really were beyond belief. And as much as he worried for Hiro, his robot was in worse danger. Baymax was not a robot that should fall into the wrong hands. This was exactly why he did not want Hiro getting involved with these gangs. The police even had trouble keeping those cunning criminal organizations in check, so what made Hiro think he could do better?
By themselves, Yama and his goons were marginally predictable. This new trio of women that Yama brought in, however, had changed his outlook. Two of the girls had sensed his presence in Baymax earlier, and gave him a sense of false hope when they paused their work on Baymax.
He should have known it was only a temporary break, and to make matters worse, the Fujita were trained in some kind of spiritual, other-worldly magic. They came back with a stronger, more organized approach. Even though he was a Black Belt in Karate, he had very little experience in knowing how to effectively block their psychic attacks.
"Give it up... I know you want to," Rinchi spoke seductively. Her lifeless left eye looked right through him, driving despair deeper into his soul. With a smile, her demonic power probed deeper to find his weakness, learning more about his situation, and then knew just what to say to break him. "{What do you have left, Hamada? Nothing! No one will ever find you, because they all believe you are dead!}"
The menacing geisha laughed, darkly, as she squeezed her fist tighter to cut off more of his life energy. Tadashi buckled over, groaning in agony from the pain of his heart and soul feeling crushed.
"{There's no way back. You are never going to return to normal. Your mortal form is gone, and the others will no longer accept you!}"
He felt lost, and his vision blurred with the thoughts of desperation. He balled his fists and wanted the pain to stop. All he could do was press his forehead against the concrete and scream. If it would only stop, if not just for a minute.
"{There is a way out of this: I can give you your.. Death, or I can save you from your prison. Which is it?}" she asked in Japanese, her tone low and very tempting.
He collapsed to his side, the word 'Death' forming on his lips. Death sounded so tangible right now. He almost made the request. But.. If she was asking for him to become her pawn, that would never be an option. He would rather die than be a slave to a existence worse than this.
Taking this moment, Kimiko ordered Kenochi to help her break into Baymax's CPU while Rinchi had the entity distracted. "Open it while you can, now!"
Tadashi was vaguely aware of what was going on while she tortured him. He gripped his head before the pain exploded all over.
"{I will not… give— give you anything!}" he roared as he rose up, flames consuming his form. The one small hope he had left to hang onto was in knowing that Hiro knew he was not dead. He wasn't going to let them crush that. Not yet.
"Kimiko!" the witch barked, turning her back to shield from the flames. As sudden as his outburst was, his flames were tempered, suspended in the space between him and them. The other one was able to manipulate fire as well.
Her unfair interference enraged him, and the elder Hamada lashed out with more power in hope the intensity would reach past their mental shielding.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Maybe there's a God above
All I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Lyrics by Jeff Cohen, updated by Jeff Buckley and Pentatonix
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A soulful acapella Christmas carol wafted from her cell phone sitting on the counter of the café as Aunt Cass pulled another big plastic container from the pantry in the back. As commercialism dictates, the Christmas holiday officially started after Thanksgiving. But with everything else going on, she was behind on schedule. Under normal circumstances , this was her favorite time of year and she would go all out. This year, the holidays simply overwhelmed her with more burden, and it exhausted her to think about it. She still didn't have a solid plan on what to do for Christmas this year, especially for her small family. What did help ease her mind was in knowing that the decorations was all that she had left to do. The café was otherwise ready to open up for business. She just had to decide on either Thursday or Friday.
The tapping on the glass from up front caught the brunette's attention. GoGo was back, and Wasabi stood behind her holding a large steel-colored block.
Aunt Cass put on a fake smile before unlocking the door to greet them. After they had followed her back to the counter, she had mentioned that Hiro was over in the garage.
Wasabi had nodded, setting the steel case down on the floor. It was just that one, and not also the more familiar red medical case. Aunt Cass soon concluded that her faux attitude was not genuine enough, because he had taken her into a quick hug. "I'm so sorry to hear. How's he doing?" Wasabi asked openly, stepping back.
"A little better than earlier," she sighed and then shifted her gaze to GoGo. She had her suspicions about GoGo's relationship with Hiro, and the interaction that she saw between the two earlier confirmed it. Somehow, it intriqued her how Hiro had latched on to the sassy, tough-looking bicycle messenger. In the past, he preferred to keep to himself, and not bother much with social interactions with his classmates. Her next thought brought out more of a genuine smile when she spoke. "Hiro did eat one of your dumplings that was in the soup, after I told him you made them. He claimed he felt too sick to eat before I said anything."
"Good," GoGo nodded, but kept her neutral expression. She did appear much calmer than she had earlier after hearing about what had really happened. Aunt Cass imagined talking with the others helped GoGo refocus her perspective.
"Miss C, there's something else you should know," Wasabi spoke more sincerely, gesturing that maybe she should sit down by pulling out a chair.
"Oh... what is it? Is Fred okay?" her mind started to jump to conclusions as she sat down. Wasabi also took a seat, but GoGo just moved closer to the table.
"He's fine. It's just that Hiro didn't tell you the whole truth," she crossed her arms.
Aunt Cass sighed, somehow not surprised. Hiro had been doing that a lot again lately. Because of this, she went as far as parking her truck so the front was butted up right against the garage door to keep him from sneaking out through it. She doubted Hiro would go all the way upstairs to the patio, he was struggling with stairs right now. The patio door in his room also had been boarded up. Not because of Hiro, but that the frame was damaged from the earthquake and a panel had cracked glass. She decided to remove the door until the new door panels arrived.
Wasabi exchanged glances with GoGo, as if debating who would be next to say it. "Baymax was also stolen," the physicist admitted.
Aunt Cass pursed her lips, letting that news sink in. Again, this fact didn't surprise her as much as they might have thought it would. Hiro's strange behavior made her wonder what he was trying to hide. From not wanting her to go to the lab herself to get his project work, to being particular about not wanting her to call the others about what happened. Aunt Cass shook her head, feeling more disappointment. "I just wish he could confide in me."
"There's things he's not telling me either.. but then he says it's because he doesn't want us, you, to worry," GoGo finally sat down in another chair next to Aunt Cass, to be on the same level with her.
"Everything that he doesn't talk to me about makes worry," Aunt Cass furrowed her brow. The emotion suddenly hit, her eyes welling up with tears. Frustration. She did so well in trying to stay strong through this whole new ordeal, but all of a sudden now the reality finally sunk in. Baymax was also the last mutual connection to Tadashi that she had.
Wasabi stood up to go over to the condiment stand and grabbed some napkins for her. Most likely because he couldn't spot a box if tissue.
"I'm sorry.. this just hit me," she accepted a napkin from him and pressed them under her eyes to absorb the tears.
"It's okay," Wasabi shrugged, patting her shoulder. "Sometimes you need to."
"Hiro's struggling with a lot of anxiety, more than he let's on…" GoGo did her best to connect with her, now showing her rarely seen sympathy. "I'm sorry about what had happened too. I'll keep talking to him, so he can be more open with us."
She drew in a shaky breath, recollecting herself. "Thank you.. I've noticed he's having a hard time with his moods. He's a teenager, so that's normal.. I guess, but I still worry. Hiro keeps shutting me out when I suggest he should see a therapist about it."
"Yeah," GoGo just nodded. Just the way the mechanical engineer regarded her concern showed that she knew what she meant.
"He became very upset after a police offer came to his room earlier today to ask us a few questions," Aunt Cass balled up the napkin, sighing again.
"What did you tell the police?" GoGo wondered.
"That he was beat up, and stole his wallet and back pack. We stressed the theft of proprietary information, to emphasize the seriousness of this matter."
"That's usually a concern for employees who work at a big companies..." Wasabi threw in his two cents, sounding not very positive the police would take the case seriously.
"Since it was my laptop that was stolen, they better get busy in recovering it!" GoGo brought up, sounding a little defensive now.
"What? Why did Hiro have your laptop?" the bigger college student questioned her.
"His got broken in the earthquake, remember?" GoGo clarified to Wasabi, who now looked put-off by her explanation. "I let him borrow mine while I was out."
Aunt Cass bit her lip, a little surprised Hiro also didn't tell her he wasn't able to fix his laptop. She could have gotten him another through a Black Friday sale. But that was really the least of her concerns. She made up her mind and rose from the chair to get her phone.
"Who are you calling?" Wasabi soon noticed what she was doing after she stopped the music.
"The police, to report about Baymax."
She saw it again, another exchange of looks between the two college students. This time it almost felt like she did something they didn't expect.
"No, not yet," GoGo stood up to Aunt Cass's hand away from the phone. "You need to talk to Hiro about this first. Encourage him to tell you what he knows, to keep his trust."
Aunt Cass nodded, accepting her advice because it was wisdom she needed to hear. But she still worried for Hiro new friends. She just had that feeling they would do what any friend would do, and go out to look for Baymax for him. She had been figuring out more in how Hiro 'played games' with her. If he didn't tell her and the police about Baymax, then that would make it easier for the rest of his 'team' to look for the robot.
"There's just one thing. I gave Hiro the same warning: I don't want you to get involved, as superheroes, and look for Baymax," the brunette looked at both of the SFIT students, square in the eyes. "It's too dangerous! I know you think of yourselves as responsible young adults, but I think your families, who are also some distance away, would agree if they knew the danger you were in."
The more sensible physicist seemed to have a change in attitude, and nodded in agreement with her statement. "That's a valid point, Miss C. We hadn't really planned to."
The Hamada aunt still noticed a stifled look of dismay from GoGo. Rather than say anything in kind, she sighed.
"I'm going to check on Hiro," GoGo then stood up and thumbed in the direction of the door in the back of the café. It led to the partially repaired 'hole in the wall', going into the garage. All that was needed was the doorframe. She had decided that a direct access from the garage to the house would be helpful afterall.
:::::::::::::::::::
The red-orange flames whipped around him like a hot wind. At other times, two fire balls were visible, only to be snuffed out by waves of inky black darkness. Light mixed with the darkness, reminding him vaguely of a star nebula being consumed by a black hole. Voices started to fade in and out. A menacing female voice haunted him, startling him with resonating, sadistic laughter. It was in Japanese, then suddenly the blackness jabbed his eyes and he screamed in pain. He felt so paralyzed and confused by not even knowing what was going on. Something indescribable, something that hurt so bad. His head throbbed from new flashes of light and fire. The pain, he started crying for it to stop.
The voice changed now. Her voice sounded more calming, soothing. She chased away the inky black shadows, and the feeling of flames whipping around him became her arms holding him close. Her fingers were running through his sweaty hair.
"Wake up.. s' okay," GoGo whispered again, her hand going over his cheek. "You're safe, Hiro."
He was in GoGo's arms… not- the younger Hamada exhaled sharply, trying to think how that happened. His jaw clenched. At least she didn't sound angry this time. Hiro buried his face into his best friend's shoulder and squeezed her tighter, breathing in her familiar, comforting scent of spicy perfume and leather. GoGo was a reality that he didn't want to go away.
"..is he okay?" Wasabi's voice finally asked.
"Bad dream," GoGo simply explained, but he could sense something come over her because her arms tensed. It felt like she wanted to pull away.
He wondered if it was because Wasabi just came in too. Where did he come from anyway? Did GoGo tell the others while she was out? Either way, he also started to feel awkward if there were other people present. Hiro looked back up and wiped the wetness from his face with his hand. He still had a headache, all his miserable aches, but it wasn't like the pain he felt in his dream.
"M'okay…" the injured teen mumbled, his eye contact being shifty when Wasabi came closer to him. GoGo kept an arm around Hiro's shoulders as she sat next to him on his red, worn-out couch in the garage. He was bundled up in one of Tadashi's huge, maroon-colored, pull-over hoodies and full-length sweatpants, and had a fleece blanket tangled in between himself and GoGo. Dressing that warmly was the only way Aunt Cass would let him go into the chilly garage to work on stuff.
"The little man don't look very 'okay'. How are you really feeling?" Wasabi responded, with the slightest hint of mockery. The big guy rolled aside the electric radiant heater so he could sit on the large, wood crate-table in front of the couch.
So much for trying to be remotely positive then.
Hiro just shook his head and frowned, his mind still a little fuzzed about what was going on before all this. He gradually remembered he was looking at something on Tadashi's tablet, before dozing off.
"We brought back Mega-Z, and those other things you asked for," GoGo informed Hiro, her hand dropping down to rest around his waist instead.
"He's not Mega-Z... but, thanks," his eyes looked down at the crate-table, and he bit his lip in thought. Hiro glanced sidelong to GoGo. "Did you tell Honey Lemon, about me?"
"Yes," she responded firmly. "We're all in to help you with this."
"I'm grounded," he was looking at his hands again. "Aunt Cass even has all the doorways blocked."
"Who said you were going anywhere?"
Hiro made eye contact with the speedster, and then to Wasabi, who looked miffed. The teen worked his mouth, then sighed.
"But we still need someone to be our intel," Wasabi gripped Hiro's left shoulder for a second. He smiled, reassuring him of his role.
"He needs help—" Hiro breathed, then realized who he was talking to. He hadn't explained anything about that to her yet. "I.. I know where Baymax is." He picked up the tablet and then unlocked the passcode. The app was still up, and he held it out to show the map of downtown with a pulsing dot.
"Oooh, that's good!" Wasabi's eyes grew wide. "We need to call Fred and see if the location aligns with the gang."
GoGo nodded in agreement, also exchanging glances with them. The look she gave Wasabi seemed to be that of mixed confusion though. But she was the first to pull out her phone to give Fred a call.
"We can use my other robot," Hiro ran his hand through his hair as he thought more about how to do this. He felt really fortunate this time that he had kept the original chip from Tadashi in safekeeping. What was in Baymax now was a copy. He had learned his lesson this time. All the programming in both of his robots were backed up frequently and safe-guarded. Just how strong those safe-guards were, that was another test he would have to find out.
"Hey—" GoGo answered after Fred picked up, and then twisted her face. "Why do I need to apologize? I am calm now… look, Hiro has something he wants you to check on."
She handed the phone over to Hiro, apparently still not in the mood to talk to Fred. "Um, Hi."
"Hey, buddy. Feeling any better?"
"Better, but still a grade above roadkill," Hiro answered, staring down at the tablet. "Are you—"
"Whoa, no.. wait up," Wasabi snatched the phone from Hiro's hand. "We'll get back with you later," he briefly told Fred before ending the call, and then opened up the phone's settings.
"What are you doing?" GoGo glared at him, needing an explanation for this erratic behavior. Especially after he had just told them to call Fred.
"I just realized.. they could be tracing us with these now," Wasabi muttered, he was looking to turn off the GPS settings on it also.
"Ugh.. yeah," Hiro pressed his palm to his forehead, realizing Wasabi's concern. Sometimes the physicist's paranoia was a good thing. "If they have Baymax.. they have access to all of.. our contact information."
GoGo flat out swore and stood up to show her alarm. She turned to face Hiro again. "You have a fire wall, or something like that on him, right?"
"Something like that, yeah," Hiro was really trying to think of everything in regards to this new threat. It was not good at all, the more he thought about. His stomach dropped and made him nauseous again just thinking of the shit load of trouble it would bring if they gained access to the healthcare robot's data. And if that went public, he would be so 'dead'. Now he really was thankful he didn't tell the police about his robot being stolen. "Baymax can get access to prescription drugs, painkillers.. even everyone's medical history, because of his connection with EMRs…"
GoGo swore again and walked away in disbelief.
"Can... he still has to get permission from the hopsitals and pharmacies though..." he echoed the sediment, resting his forehead on his hand and his elbow on his knee. Why was it hard to think about what to do next? All that he could think about was his panic setting in. Why had the gang taken Baymax instead of his new robot, the one that can fight? It had to be what else Baymax could get for them.
The younger Hamada really felt like he was going to throw up now.
"It sounds bad, but.. hey," Wasabi tried to reassess the situation for his sake. "We'll try to get to Baymax before they exploit that."
"So you were just faking—" GoGo started to ask Wasabi but stopped herself. She briefly glanced at Hiro before crossing her arms. Wasabi just raised one of his eyebrows, not getting her point. Hiro wasn't going to try to figure what that exchange was all about, however.
He collapsed back against the couch and swallowed back the sickening lump in his throat. His heart was pounding, fearing the worse. He really wished the nausea would go away so he could focus. The color must have drained from his face, because GoGo looked at him with more concern as well. She sat back down next to him, on his left side, putting a hand on top of his thigh.
"We should just go to Fred's to talk instead," GoGo told Wasabi. He nodded in agreement, even though his eyes shifted briefly to look at her hand.
Her hand was conveniently close to his, and Hiro suddenly had the desire to hold it. Just something to help shake his scared, sick feelings. He reached his hand over, closing it around hers, and held his breath to brace for any reaction. The teen remembered how Fred told him that there had been something going on between her and Wasabi. Her affection for Hiro was probably not going over well with the big guy now. But, for now, Hiro didn't really care about that... he just wanted feel to better so that he could rescue Baymax.
"Are you going to be okay here?" GoGo asked Hiro, her eyes searching him for honesty. She hadn't pulled her hand away from him, yet.
He exhaled, fixating his eyes on her soft brown ones. No…
Her hand turned so that the warm skin of her palm was pressing against his palm. Her fingers tightened around his cold, bandaged hand and she sandwiched it with her other hand on top.
"I.. I'll work on him," Hiro finally whispered, nodding to the silver block. To Geronimo, Baymax's 'brother'.
"I'll try to not be long," GoGo told him, lifting their hands up between them and squeezed his tight. "But you got to tell Aunt Cass about Baymax. She needs to know."
"Why..?"
"Because you should. She's not your enemy, but part of our team," GoGo leveled with him.
"But then she'll tell the police!"
"That's something you'll have to discuss with her," her voice grew louder, releasing his hand completely now.
"I can't have the police know.. if this gets out on the news—" his voice was strained.
"I don't care… you need to be more honest with her! All of us, really!"
Hiro could tell she was getting upset with him about that detail again, and it was making him feel uneasy.
"Look genius… she just wants you to talk with her, okay?" she repeated herself to drive home her main point again. "Aunt Cass gets even more worried about you when you aren't real with her."
Hiro sighed audibly, rubbing his arm and looking away. "Fine…"
"Can we have Tadashi's tablet, with the location for Baymax?" Wasabi gently asked next. Hiro finally released it to him, understanding that they do need to take action now.
::::::::::::::::::::::::
The three teammates now sat on chairs in front of the large screen computer monitor in Fred's below ground bunker. It was confirmed that Baymax and the gang members were in close proximity. They decided once they came up with a plan, they would share it later with Hiro and Honey Lemon. It was discussed that when they took action, those two could be at Fred's, in this communications center, since it had tech to block anyone tracking their location and identity. Getting Hiro and Geronimo out of the house was one of many challenges.
"This is the part that really gets me," Fred spun around in his chair, grabbing some files his dad found for him. The moment he told his dad what had happened to Hiro, and why a car was taken off the premises, the old man had suddenly changed his tone and took action like never before. "So the Fujita..? They aren't your typical mobster arm candy."
GoGo did not hesitate to open one of the file folders to review what was inside of them.
"They have powers. The one called Kimiko, she's psychic… she can move stuff with her mind like a Je—"
"You mean psionic?" GoGo corrected him, after actually reading the correct term in the file. The difference being was that she could mentally control electronics and metals, specifically.
"Yeah, that," Fred nodded, his excitement mounting. "We are actually up against some real super villains now!"
"But wait… we saw one of them wearing something that looked like a neurotransmitter?" Wasabi wondered. "Why would she need that too?"
"To make her ability more powerful, and accurate?" Fred shrugged. "I've seen an instance of something like that from an early issue of Mutants."
"Yeah, she had controlled her robot with such alarming precision…"
"If she could mind-control Baymax, that was probably what kept him from activating when they cornered Hiro," Fred put in his educated guess.
GoGo snorted due to an entirely different reason, upon glancing through the next file. "'Demon Eye', is that really a thing?"
"What does that do?" Wasabi asked again. He was starting to get a little nervous upon recognizing what they are going up against.
"If you look at it, it makes you go mental," GoGo roughly summed up that attribute. "So.. don't look at it."
"She can also see into your soul, and find your greatest fears and weaknesses!" Fred felt the need to expand on that for added effect. "Sounds pretty damning if you ask me."
"Right… thank you, Fred," GoGo sighed.
"At least the third one doesn't have anything 'super'.. yet. She's just really skilled with weapons and close-combat," the fan boy gestured to the files GoGo still held. She ended up giving them back to him.
"Did they always have those powers…?" GoGo muttered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Because I don't remember them being like that before."
"I think what's more important is deciding how we are going to infiltrate their location and get Bay max back."
"The fact we were still able to find him means at least he's still functional," GoGo added.
"Which is really kind of surprising, if you think about it," Wasabi sat back, rubbing his neck.
"Okay, so are we just going to bust in and grab?" Fred rubbed his hands together.
GoGo glared at Fred, "No. Too predictable."
"Are there any bot fights going on?" Wasabi wondered.
The others looked at him, a little surprised. "I thought we were going for something unpredictable?" Fred asked.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
After Wasabi dropped her off, GoGo walked to the side entrance of the café house. Aunt Cass let her in, and she explained briefly she was back to help Hiro with his project. The guardian allowed her to stay, reassuring she would only be there for a few hours.
GoGo stepped down the couple steps of the makeshift wooden stair case. It was quiet in the garage, and she soon learned why when she found Hiro asleep on the red couch again. He was wrapped up in a ball of blankets, his oversized hoodie pulled over his head, and still holding a pen and his journal notebook. At least this time, his face looked relaxed and at ease in his slumber. GoGo slowly, carefully pulled the items from his hands to set on the crate-table.
"Who are you?" a deep male voice asked, otherwise giving the speedster a good startle.
She spun on her heel, quickly settling her gaze on the tall steel robot standing motionless by a workbench along the wall. It wore a metal helmet that looked like that of a fire-fighter, but with a couple of short antenna on each side. The robot also had a metallic, human-like face, and his optics glowed faintly yellow, with blue centers. While there was a likeness of the nose, the mouth was just the shape of one. The lips didn't look like they could move when the robot spoke. The only thing she could think of was that Hiro had lived out his wildest dreams from all the giant robotic warrior shows he had watched.
"Who are you?" the steely robot asked her again, his optics faintly glowing brighter gold now. He remained motionless otherwise, both arms remaining at his side. They did not have anything that could be described as hands though. The legs were a combination of rollers for feet, and backwards knees.
"GoGo," she took a step closer, still studying the robot, "I'm Hiro's friend."
"Why are you here?" his voice sounded authoritative, like a high ranking officer.
GoGo narrowed her eyes for a beat before answering. Was he Hiro's new body guard, or something? "He asked for my help," she pointed back in Hiro's direction as she spoke.
"Where is your.. help?" he asked, optics pulsing. GoGo crossed her arms, looking at him in further consideration. She decided he was one circuit short of a full board.
"I. Am. The help." Maybe speaking slowly and clearly would work.
"No.. you are GoGo: Hiro's friend."
GoGo groaned, but heard Hiro moving now, behind her.
"It's okay.. I invited GoGo to be here," he called out to him.
Geronimo moved his head, acknowledging the young genius now.
"Sorry… still working on his ability to understand human speech patterns," he told GoGo as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
"As long as he fights better than he thinks," GoGo sassed him.
"At ease, Ronin," Hiro looked at the soldier bot. His optics had dimmed in response to that statement.
"Ronin?"
"Nickname."
She just raised her eyebrows then shook her head. His robot's head did look like that of a samurai's, the more she thought about it. "How much more do you need to do?"
"Fine tuning," Hiro responded after a moment of hesitation. "Had to swap out the search and rescue components with the battle tech again."
"How likely will your Aunt let you go out for a dinner date tomorrow night?" GoGo dropped her voice to ask him, also keeping her face straight. She phrased the question that way on purpose.
"Dinner… date?" Hiro echoed the two key words as he suddenly grew alarmed. "With.. who?"
"Me..." GoGo really did her best to not crack a smile. Fred was right. It was kind of amusing to see how flustered Hiro became at the bare mention of the word 'date'. "Aaand the others."
"Ye-yeah, of course," Hiro stammered, his eyes casting downward as if that would keep her from noticing the red flush on his cheeks. His voice was cracking too. "Why?"
She finally let her mirth come out, and put an arm around his neck to bring him closer. "We need a practical way to get you out of the house, genius," she whispered into his ear.
"Okay…right," he gulped, still feeling tense about her being so close. His eyes were darting between GoGo and the floor.
"Do you have anything nice to wear, as in suit and tie?" GoGo took a step back, but still left her hand on his shoulder.
"Ye-yeah… except.." the younger Hamada started, but his nervousness was replaced with something else. "I really don't want to wear.. that one."
GoGo mentally facepalmed herself for asking him in the way she did. She knew what he meant, in that his one suit had 'funeral' memories all over it now. "Don't worry… Honey and I will rent out a tux for you."
"That fancy?" Hiro looked up.
"Fred is asking his dad to make red-letter reservations at an upscale restaurant, so yeah… that fancy," Gogo nodded, then dropped her hand.
"Are we really…?" he whispered.
"Have to make it believable, and accountable," GoGo gestured for him to sit back down on the couch with her. She kept her voice especially low in case Aunt Cass might be nearby. "It's our starting point, then you will be going with Honey Lemon to a secret SHIELD base underground, near that restaurant."
"What? Not at.. Fred's house?"
"His dad is going to ask SHIELD to back us up, in case it gets out of control. Turns out the Fujita are also on their hit list."
"They have super powers?"
"Yup."
"What are you guys going to do?" his voice was barely audible.
"Going bot fighting."
"Seriously..?" Hiro didn't look thrilled with that idea. "With my robot? But you said—"
"It'll be a diversion," GoGo interrupted him. "While one of us are in the bot fight, Wasabi and Fred will look for Baymax. How easy is it for me to control.. him?"
Hiro looked back at Geronimo (or Ronin, or whatever they will register him as), then back to her, his voice straining. "That's the plan?"
"That's the idea."
"What will I be doing? I can still help you with the bot fight," Hiro started to sound more worried.
"You're hurt, you got a concussion.. plus I noticed you're limping," GoGo denied his request.
"Limping? My legs are sore and stiff!"
"Are your knees and ankles okay?" her past experience from professionally controlled ring matches, to street fights, that stuff can take a number on the joints when taking on a lot of hard hits.
Hiro didn't respond with a lame excuse that time. "Aunt Cass asked them to x-ray my left knee. But there wasn't anything serious."
"Good. But we'll need someone to be our intel. Hacking into security systems.. details like that. We felt it'll be better for you to stay out of their sight," GoGo explained it that way for him.
"Okay..." the teen sighed. His dark eyes glanced down before he looked back up into hers. "Can.. can you give me another massage, like before?" he asked meekly.
GoGo sighed but smiled at him. She shifted so she was sitting more sideways next to Hiro. "Only if you agree to let us do the footwork tomorrow."
"..tomorrow?" he followed her gesture to face her.
"Yes, tomorrow night," her fingertips touched his face, checking to see how hot his skin felt. It was warm, but not hot like the first time she saw him.
"That's.. That's too late!" he whined. It was also when the botfight was.
Because you're not okay now.
"Is your headache still bad?" GoGo used her question as another reason why they weren't acting right away. It was kinder that telling him the cold hard truth. She spread her fingers into his hair as she pressed her thumbs on his temples. Then she moved them in a circular motion with steady pressure.
He didn't say anything, but his eyes closed. The young genius still looked tired, and a little unsure about something.
"Just get more rest. We start on all this, first thing tomorrow, okay?" GoGo added. Truth be told, she was starting to feel beat herself. It was a long, stressful day at this point.
"You can stay here..." Hiro whispered, a bit suddenly, and then moved in to hug her.
His motion caused her to drop her hands so she could slide her arms around his shoulders. Gogo's thoughts were frozen on his almost innocent request for her to stay with him. It was so tempting, and sounded better, safer than her other option. She had no desire right now to go out into the cold, wet night and risk getting jumped on her bike ride home.
And he wasn't letting go of her either. She ran her hand through his thick hair, noticing his musky smell again from not showering in awhile. "If that's okay with your aunt."
The boy genius adjusted himself to be more comfortable against her, leaning into the back of the couch. "Don't worry… "
She understood, and finally gave in to his irresistible idea. Hiro seriously wanted her to stay right there, with him. "I'll stay… get some more sleep."
GoGo tugged at the blankets and pulled them up around him. She also nestled herself against the armrest of the couch with Hiro in her arms.
"Thank you…" he breathed softly, careful to keep his uninjured hand on her side and away from where she would end up dropping him on the floor in a heap.
AN:
Tadashi's realm is like a spiritual astral plane with an alternate likeness to the real world. Don't expect anything to make logical sense though, because I'm not basing this on anything that already exists.
Also.. this keeps cracking me up… and I just want to let you know there is no relation (cause at the time I thought up Fred's nickname, that popular anime show about pro figure skaters didn't exist.) Yes.. Fred is also a pork cutlet bowl aka 'Katsudon'. Hiro is horrified. (Is ded now)
Things will start getting 'fun' from this point. ;D
