A/N; This story is the sequel to another previously posted on my profile. There is no pressure to read the first one before you do this one, but I thought I should mention it because more people have read this story than my previous one. (It follows the plot of the film but there's a lot of extra content and might make it easier to follow if you read that first.) It's 50k words, so it's a nice long read for you. So yeah, if you haven't read the first one then I'd recommend bookmarking this one here and going to read that other one first. Or don't, I'm not your mom.
(I also wrote an AU story which is in a different timeline to both big hero 8 and the sequel. Again, no pressure to read it but the performance on it is pretty bad so if you want to read an alternative story where Tadashi did actually die in the fire go there! There's loads of angst I promise.)
That was all I wanted to say. Please read my stories I put a lot of work into them and I think they're pretty good sometimes :)).
Review please! ... please
(P.S; I swear Baymax is coming back soon, and the superhero stuff. Pinkie promise.)
The alleyway was a lot longer than Rena had anticipated.
She tried to run, but it was more of a weird, stumbling gallop than anything else. Being away from all that medication had affected her a lot quicker than she'd anticipated; dark spots and flashes were penetrating her vision and she had to stop a couple of times to catch her breath. The adrenaline was the only thing pushing her forwards, but by the time she'd reached the end of the narrow alleyway her store of it had almost been depleted.
The first thing Rena noticed when she emerged into the sunlight was just how dire the whole situation was.
Ambulances and police cars were everywhere. She was across the street from the cafe, but something told her it wasn't the only thing affected by the criminals. Shattered glass was all over the street, the shops and other businesses they were near seemed to have been broken into as well. People were all over the street; some paramedics and police officers but mainly wounded people. Her eyes swept the surroundings quickly and her stomach turned at the sight of someone who looked suspiciously... well... dead.
'What the fuck happened here?' She muttered to herself. She dodged out of the way of a police officer and crossed the street to the cafe, trying her best to look like she should have been there all along. The paramedics outside the cafe were so busy they barely noticed her slip under the yellow tape and climb through a broken window into the main room. A couple of people were being seen to on the floor, it took Rena a few minutes to find someone she recognized in her delirious state. She pushed past doctors and nurses and parents; crying children and parents. It seemed like the whole street was crammed into the small space outside the Lucky Cat.
She edged around the back of the building until she reached the side door. It took a couple of attempts for her to get the code right to open the door, but eventually, she managed to push the heavy door open. She stumbled into the kitchen and crashed into the huge dustbin next to the sink. It fell with a huge bang and sent rubbish sliding all over the floor. Rena cursed and stepped over it cautiously. She shoved the kitchen door open and almost passed out when she saw what was in front of her.
All of the tables were overturned. The glass in the counters was smashed and all over the floor, as were the windows. People were everywhere; both injured and not. Blood was streaked across one of the tables. The cash register had been overturned, brown pennies were littered across the floor. Rena swallowed and sidestepped a frantic looking nurse tending to a bleeding older woman. Her elbow smacked into the wall and she cursed under her breath for the twentieth time that hour. She turned around and felt dizzy with relief when she caught sight of a familiar green blazer.
Tadashi was stood with his back to her, talking to a police officer. Rena hovered behind, deciding it was best to wait until the police officer went to talk to someone else.
'-three men. One was about 6'2" and the other two were slightly shorter, probably just under six foot. They were all wearing matching trench coats and black hats.'
'I see. Anything else?'
'The tallest man had green eyes and a scar on his face. I didn't see the faces of the other two from where I was.'
'Alright. We're currently investigating. With the amount of eye witness reports, there's a high chance we can catch them and get them incarcerated. If there's anything else you think of or forgot to tell me, just call into the station and ask for Sergeant Daniels.'
'Yep, got it. Thank you, officer.'
The officer left and Tadashi sighed, tipping his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose. Rena leaped forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hugging him as though he'd slip out of her grasp if she didn't do it right enough. Tadashi gasped and stumbled backward slightly, before realising who was crushing him.
'Hey! I- wait?! What?' Tadashi spluttered, confused. He pulled back and took a look of Rena's face. 'Hey, what the FUCK?!' He exclaimed, horrified.
'Shhhhh! There are KIDS here!'
Tadashi shook his head angrily before grabbing her arm and pulling her back towards the kitchen. He slammed the door shut behind them and sat heavily on the counter, huffing. Rena hung back, slightly ashamed but also still desperate to known what happened.
'Well?' She asked, 'you gonna say anything? Because I have a lot of questions and it was actually very difficult to get here so-'
Tadashi inhaled slowly. 'You and I are going to go outside to one of those ambulances, we're gonna explain the situation and then you're going back to the hospital. Right now.'
'No!' Rena exclaimed loudly, 'I'm fine! Before I go anywhere you're gonna explain to me what the hell went down here! That's what I came for!'
'Why did you come?!' He spluttered, 'you idiot! Why couldn't you just wait?! Would that have really killed you?! Jesus CHRIST do you even realise what you've done?!'
Rena folded her arms and glared at him. 'I'm fine! Just a little dizzy! I'm not a tiny kid, I can make my own decisions.'
'You absolutely can, I never said you couldn't. But you can't just waltz out of hospital whenever you choose! That's not how it works!'
'I know! But I'm here now so shut up. What happened? Is everyone okay?'
Tadashi exhaled loudly. 'I.. I don't know. I think Gogo got injured... or.. or maybe Fred did? It was all so hectic I haven't seen anyone in a while, not even Aunt Cass. I've just been trying to help people.' In an instant, all his anger seemed to melt away. 'I didn't know what to do! It was all.. it was all so hectic! And they were shooting! Actually shooting?! We didn't even do anything! No one did anything! Why'd they even come in here? It's the smallest cafe?! I don't... I should've known! I should've...!' He buried his head in his hands and Rena stood frozen in shock.
Her head was spinning and she was struggling to come up with a coherent thought. She knew her condition was deteriorating but decided to push it to the back of her mind. Tadashi's shoudkers were shaking with sobs and, using the metal counter for balence, she quickly made her way over to him. Leaning on the counter next to him, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to her side.
'Hey. Nothing that happened here today was your fault, alright?'
'You don't... you don't get it.' He sniffed.
'No, you've just been through a horrible ordeal. Of course it wasn't your fault! You did everything you could, I know you did.'
He shook his head. 'We need to get you to hospital. Now.'
Rena sighed. 'I'm okay.'
'Not for much longer you won't be. You really were stupid for coming here. You're gonna be in so much trouble. How'd you even get out in the first place?'
'Hey, I wanted to know what happened. You think I could just sit around and wait to see if any of you DIED? Nope, not happening.'
'You should've waited.'
'I don't care.'
Tadashi sighed and stood up. He grabbed Rena's hand and pulled her to her feet. 'I still want to know how you escaped.'
'I just walked out to be honest, it wasn't that hard.'
'What? Really?'
'Well I... I had a little help.'
He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 'WHO? No way one of the nurses just let you walk right out of there?'
Rena swallowed. 'Uhh, no... not exactly. It was, uh, it was Caine.'
Tadashi raised his eyebrows. 'Remind me to yell at him next time I see him. Jesus christ, what was he thinking?!'
'No I asked him. He told me to stay, he really did. But I couldn't stand it.'
'Dick.'
Rena elbowed him. She was about to let out a retort when Tadashi let out a hiss of pain and she squinted at him. 'You okay there?'
'Yeah?'
Rena narrowed her eyebrows at him, her eyes drifting towards the slightly dark patch on his arm where she'd just hit him. Dark spots were dancing across her vision and she felt like she was about to throw up, but she still knew what it was. 'Really?'
'Look, we don't have time for this. You look like you're about to pass out.'
'Yeah I probably am. But take your jacket off.'
Tadashi blanched. 'No it's fine! Come on, we can go to the ambulances and they can sort it out later. It's really not a priority.'
Rena wanted to yell in frustration. 'What is it with you?! You need medical attention?! You idiot! You can't lecture me on this and not do it yourself-'
'It's not the same! I'm barely bleeding and you're out here trying to kill yourself-'
'I'm not TRYING to do ANYTHING!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!'
'Oh my god, could you not wait an hour for an update?'
'No! You don't know what it was like-'
'Don't know what it was like?! You DIED! You actually DIED! Do you have ANY IDEA-'
'YOU RAN INTO A FIRE!'
'YOU ESCAPED FROM HOSPITAL!'
They stood staring at one another, seething. Rena gulped in air and Tadashi covered his injured arm. For a second, neither one of them said anything.
'I got a death threat in the mail. I don't know who it was for, and I don't know who it was from. It said 'all of your family will die.' And I'm so very sorry for being more cautious about that, but believe it or not, I don't actually want any of you to die.' Tadashi said.
Rena started at him in horror. 'What the fuck? You didn't think to TELL ME?'
'I didnt want to worry you!'
'WORRY ME? Tadashi - it's a DEATH THREAT? Also, you think I haven't noticed how you've been acting? You think that hasn't worried me enough?'
Tadashi sighed. 'I thought I was protecting you.'
'Yeah well-'
Rena paused and coughed loudly, covering her hand with her mouth. When she brought it away, it was spotted red with blood. She gasped and stumbled back, Tadashi caught her elbow before she fell to the floor. She coughed again, the coughs quickly turning into heaving.
'Maybe... maybe we can... finish this conversation later...' She rasped between coughs, clutching her chest. Her eyes were streaming and her head was spinning.
Tadashi lowered her to the ground and she leant against the side wearily. 'I hate you. How could you not think this would happen?'
'Love you too.'
'Yeah... I'm going to get a nurse.' He said quickly, before standing up and practically running out of the room.
Rena tried to stand, but her legs were wobbling too much to allow her to. She sat back and tried to process what Tadashi had just revealed to her.
Death threats? For who? She couldn't remember having upset anyone, so it probably wasn't for her. Tadashi? His intellect was envied after all...
And then there was Hiro. Sure, he'd got into a lot of trouble botfighting. But that had ended ages ago. Would someone still want to seek revenge? What exactly had her younger brother done, what had he resorted to?
Her eyes watered and she couldn't even muster the strength to wipe them away.
'Just a little peace... that's all I want...'
