A/N; Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well :)
I can honestly say I had no idea what I was going to do with this chapter - I knew what I wanted the outcome to be, and I knew what I wanted to happen but I had no idea how I was going to get there. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I do hope you enjoy it! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated, as I said I didn't particularly know where I was going to go. It gets a little heavy I think, but I hope you like reading it either way.
So, my next question - what next? This sequel is almost over, I'm aiming for two more chapters after this one (and then the QnA to be uploaded after that - bringing us to 41 chapters in total). I don't think I'll quit, I don't really want to do that. I'm currently debating between writing about Rena, Tadashi and Hiro's experience in high school or a third(!) instalment which just follows the series/has some of the characters. Either that, or I do another one and make it a little like this one? I'm leaning more towards the high school one, but I don't know if anyone will read it. Let me know! Please! I'd be open to your ideas and criticism! (Also if you want yourself/an OC to be in hit me up I'd love to do that!)
Anyway. Enjoy!
Rena was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest in the corridor. She was staring blankly ahead of her, her shoulders slumped forward in exhaustion. The white walls were suffocating and the sterile cleaning scent was almost enough to make her choke. A nurse walked past and smiled down at her, but the teenager didn't have the energy to smile back. It was so crazy that, for other people, life was going on as it should be. These people were walking around, just living their normal lives. Going to work and school. Coming home, cooking dinner. Having a glass of wine. Reading a book. Watching TV. Doing homework. And yet here she was, sitting in a hospital corridor for the third time in just a few months. Her whole life had been turned on its head, leaving her reeling and struggling to pick up the pieces. She should be dead. She should be at home, doing her homework. Maybe making a coffee. Arguing with her brothers about something stupid. But no. She was here, in one of her least favourite places in the entire world. It hardly seemed fair.
A witness had called the emergency services and everyone had been hauled into ambulances and taken away immediately. Rena was still unconscious, so she had no recollection of the ambulance or what had happened after she'd passed out on the grass in front of the warehouse. After arriving at the hospital, she woke up in a bed with an oxygen mask on and bandages and stitches littering her body. They'd only kept her in to monitor the smoke in her lungs, and after much pleading they'd discharged her. She was badly burnt and bruised, but she found that she didn't particularly care. She'd rather her ribs be broken and her limbs bandaged forever than anyone dying.
Fred was okay, too. The last she had seen he was whizzing about the place in a wheelchair, his broken arm finally appropriately dealt with and his ankle bandaged as well. As always, he had remained extremely optimistic about the sitation. She had seen Wasabi very briefly, but he'd had to leave after about two minutes of conversation. In the chaos, she hadn't seen Honey Lemon nor Gogo, but she had got calls from both of them insisting that they were okay.
Hiro wasn't hurt either. He was sitting next to her in the corridor, his head turned away from her. It had been almost two days, and he hadn't said a word to her at all. Rena hadn't tried to make any conversation with him either. She'd figured that he would come around eventually. Besides, she had no idea how to start the conversation. No words would come even if she wanted them to. They were waiting to go in to see Tadashi. In all the chaos, neither of them had had the chance to see him. As it turns out, Baymax had saved his life after Rena's surgery. He was being monitored because an infection had began to settle in. Guilt clawed at Rena's chest whenever she thought about it - she had to force herself to remember that if it weren't for her removing the chip he would definitely be dead. The doctors had told their Aunt Cass they had very little doubt that he would not pull through. She was the only one that had seen Tadashi, and had left very shortly after. She'd gone straight back to cafe and buried herself in work - as she always did when faced with tragedy. Rena knew none of them minded though. Cass did not know the full story, and none of them were particularly looking forward to explaining it to her. All she knew was that they had gotten themselves caught up in another fire.
Both Jason and Matthew had escaped. In all of the chaos outside, nobody had thought to look for them. Baymax had provided the police with extensive data about them; including their photographs. Rena didn't have much hope that they would be caught, she knew they were both too smart for that. Instead of hope, there was a sinking feeling of dread in her chest.
The door to her head opened and she turned at the movement. A man was stood in front of her, a clipboard clasped in his hands. 'You can go in now, if you wish. He's already looking better, we're lucky we caught the infection so fast. If everything goes to plan, the antibiotics should do their work and he should be out within a few days.'
Rena nodded, using the wall to help herself to her feet, 'okay.' She croaked, her voice scratchy from smoke and lack of use, 'thank you.'
Hiro shoved past her roughly, opening the door and slipping into the room without so much as a glance in her direction. Rena swallowed, her hand resting on the door. She was anxious to go in; fearful for what was going to happen once she stepped inside that room.
She carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside. Tadashi was sitting up in the bed, a few pillows behind his back. His face was tired and bruised, and there was a huge dressing on the back of his neck that Rena could see from where she stood. On the brighter side, he was awake and there was significantly less wires than the last time she saw him in hospital. Hiro was sat in a chair to Tadashi's left, his back straight and his eyes staring fixedly on a point on the wall opposite him as he had done outside.
Rena took a deep breath. 'Glad to see you're awake.'
Tadashi smiled weakly, 'glad to see you're here.'
She took a seat opposite Hiro. As she sat down, he turned his head away from her and stared at one of the drips next to his brother, still remaining just as silent as he was before.
Rena cleared her throat awkwardly. 'So uhhh... How are you?'
'Not too bad. I mean, feeling a little rough but I know it could be a lot worse.'
She nodded, 'well. That's... Good...'
'And how are you?'
'Great.' She replied, sighing and leaning back in her chair, 'just great.'
Tadashi's exhausted eyes drifted between his two siblings; Rena, with her shoulders slumped forwards looking like she wanted to cry, and Hiro, his arms folded across his chest and a look of fury mingled with despair on his face. 'Did I... Miss something here?'
Hiro laughed coldly. 'Yeah, you could say that.' He snapped.
Rena sighed, absent-mindedly pulling at a thread on one of her bandages. Now Hiro was going to tell him everything, and Tadashi would also hate her.
'Don't do that.' Tadashi said, slapping her hand away gently, 'you'll unravel it.'
She smiled weakly. 'Sorry. Tadashi... Do you remember anything at all?'
He shifted uncomfortably. 'Flashes of it. Like, a few random seconds at a time. I remember this creepy looking guy, and another blonde kid. And uhh... a gun? I... I think? I also remember being in a lot of pain for a few minutes... at least I think.'
Rena nodded thoughtfully. So he had no idea about the fire. 'Oh... Okay...'
'So uhh... Wanna catch me up? I feel like I missed a bit.'
Rena blinked. The poor guy - sitting alone in a hospital bed for all this time without having any idea why. 'Are... Are you sure?'
Tadashi looked worried. 'Why wouldn't I be sure?'
'Because... Uhh...'
'Because a lot of shit went down and we all almost died.' Hiro spat.
Tadashi's hand drifted up to the dressing on the back of his neck, 'and this?'
Rena sighed, 'I guess we'll get to that. So, on Friday, I went to your lab to check on you and out of nowhere you drugged me and knocked me out. I woke up in this tiny, filthy room with you standing over me.'
Hiro slowly turned his head to look at her. This was the first time he was hearing about it. 'I went up to the lab with Gogo and Wasabi, where we found all your papers all over the floor. Baymax scanned some of Rena's blood on the shelf.'
Tadashi flinched, 'what? How... How do I not remember this?'
Rena grimaced, 'we'll get to that. I was in this tiny room and then this guy, presumably the one you remember, was stood in the room with me. He said he was going to kill us all.'
'What the fuck? Why?'
Rena glanced at Hiro, who was staring determinedly at his feet. 'He had his reasons. You uh... Pinned me up against the wall. It was weird. Really weird. You wouldn't listen to me despite the fact that I was basically screaming at guys came in and tied me to a chair. They started... Uhhh... Waterboarding me.' Hiro's head snapped up and Tadashi had a hand clamped over his mouth. Neither of them spoke, so she took this as a sign to keep going. 'Yeah. They weren't exactly gentle, let's put it that way.'
'I saw.' Hiro said dully.
'What do you mean, you saw?' Tadashi asked slowly.
'They sent me a video. Of Rena. Screaming.'
Rena blinked, 'oh. Well.'
'That's how I knew to come for you.' Hiro said quietly.
They fell into silence. Rena kept opening her mouth to say more, but she was choking on her words. How could she tell Tadashi that he stood over her with a gun to her head? How could she tell him that she was the reason his prosthetic was missing? That she was the reason the warehouse were burnt down and all those unnamed guards had burnt to ashes inside it? How could she tell him that she ran back inside to drag out the boy who betrayed them in the first place? That she almost killed her older brother by slicing his neck open in a panic?
'Why do I remember a gun?' Tadashi asked softly.
Rena faltered, 'I... I don't know if you want to remember.'
'How bad could it have been?'
For the first time, Rena and Hiro locked eyes with one another - terrified brown eyes meeting terrified green. She blinked and the image of Tadashi standing above her was seared into her memory. On her temple was a slight tingling sensation, as though the gun was still pressed against it. 'Tadashi... You... You were going to kill me with it.' She whispered, so softly that she half-hoped he wouldn't have heard her.
Of course he heard her, ' no...I... I would never do that... I... Why don't I remember it?' He said tearfully, his voice shaking slightly. 'WHY?' He demanded, slightly louder.
Rena flinched. 'I-'
'Mind control.' Hiro replied simply, looking his older brother dead in the eye. 'You were being controlled by that freak Fournier. It wasn't your fault.'
Tadashi's eyes widened, his hand going up to his neck automatically, 'that actually... Kind of makes sense? I... I think? Rena.' He turned to his sister and grabbed her hand, 'please forgive me. That wasn't me, you know it wasn't. I would never do that to you. To either of you, I-'
'Tadashi,' she replied, tears rolling down her cheeks, 'there's nothing to forgive. It wasn't you, I know that.'
'And neither was that night after the fight.' Hiro said slowly, 'that wasn't you either... Was it? You were telling the truth.'
Tadashi nodded slowly, 'I would never lie to you.'
'Because it was Brian.' Rena said suddenly. 'The night you attacked Hiro was the night that he implemented that chip. Fournier told me he did it.'
Hiro's face twisted in rage, 'I know that kid! I beat him in a fight once! I'll kill him! I'll fucking kill him-'
'There's no need.' Rena replied flatly, 'he's already dead.'
Hiro sank back into his chair, '…Oh.'
'Yeah. Oh.'
Rena made no attempt to wipe away her tears, instead reverting back to pulling on her bandages. Tadashi made no move to stop her this time. 'I umm... Hiro, there's been something I wanted to ask you. Fournier... He said, uh, he said that you... Killed someone? His... Wife? Or…Something?'
Tadashi coughed loudly, seemingly choking on air. 'That's not true! That's not true!' He exclaimed loudly, his gaze wandering over to Hiro '...Is it?'
Hiro looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. 'I didn't kill her! I beat Fournier at a fight, and he was angry with me. Like, really angry. I was cornered afterwards and he was going to kill me. She was holding me back and I managed to slip away as he threw this knife. It missed me and killed her.' He rambled, not daring to meet either of them in the eye. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' He gasped, pulling on his sleeves. He started sobbing, bringing his arms up to his face, 'it was my fault! All of it! I'm sorry, you must hate me. God knows I would. I... I do. I'm sorry.'
Rena and Tadashi stared at one another for a second, digesting this new information. Then, they both moved at the same time. Rena climbed awkwardly over the bed, careful of Tadashi. She crouched on the floor next to Hiro and wrapped her good arm around his shoulders, letting him cry onto her t-shirt. Awkwardly, she pulled him up by his shoulders and hoisted him onto the bed next to Tadashi, who pulled both of them into a group hug. Rena rested her head on his arm, tears still falling down her own face.
'We don't hate you.' Tadashi said softly, 'I promise you that. It's not your fault. You made a mistake, we can't hold that against you. He's a psycho, you could never have known.'
'I should've stayed away from him! I knew he was dangerous!'
'No, Hiro, I'm sorry.' Rena said, 'I should've looked out for you more. Should've realised sooner, and stopped you from going. It's my fault just as much as it is yours.'
'And mine.' Tadashi said, nodding.
They sat there for what felt like hours, crying and holding onto one another. Rena closed her eyes, wishing she could just stay like that forever. No need to face the consequences or worry about anyone. She could just exist in that moment.
Eventually, Rena pulled herself away. She glanced at one of the shiny, red burns on her hand and looked at Tadashi, 'there's... Something else we failed to mention.'
Tadashi swiped a tear away and stared at her hand, 'another fire. They told me.' His voice was shaking as he said it.
'Yeah… I… I started it though.' Rena said softly, 'to get us out of there. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I'm sorry.'
Tadashi was silent for a moment, 'you probably saved our asses, though.'
'Are you gonna tell him what else you did?' Hiro said quietly, clenching his fists. 'Or should I?'
Tadashi's eyes darted between the pair of them. 'Rena, what did you do?'
She was flooded with shame for the hundredth time since it happened. 'Do you know Caine?'
'The blonde kid? Yeah…Why?'
'He's a spy.' Hiro spat bitterly, 'he's been telling his boss all about us for months. That's why he avoided me.'
'Oh shit.' Tadashi said quietly, sinking down into the pillows, 'I thought you two were close?' He said, addressing Rena. 'I swear you were into him?'
She very visibly flinched. I have to tell him. 'Uh, no. Definitely not into him. But I, I was pretty good friends with him.'
'Damn. I'm sorry Rena.'
'I ran back into the fire for him.' She said quickly, desperate to get it out into the open. 'I went back in and dragged him out. I know, I shouldn't have because he betrayed me like that, and he's a bit evil or whatever. But I... I couldn't let him die. Not like that. I couldn't let anyone get hurt by fire again. Not again. Not ever again. I'm sorry.'
Hiro glared at her, 'you promised me. You promised me you'd never leave.'
'And I haven't! I'm okay!'
'Do you know how that felt? Turning around and realising that you'd run into that fire? Just like he had?' He said, pointing at Tadashi, 'do you have ANY IDEA how terrifying that was?'
'I know exactly what that's like!' She said angrily, 'I was there the first time too, in case you haven't forgotten.'
'And you still did it anyway.' Hiro replied, stunned.
She nodded, 'and I'm sorry. But I couldn't let him die.'
'He almost killed us. All of us.'
'That was Fournier. That had nothing to do with him.'
Hiro scoffed, 'you don't even care, do you?'
'Of course I do! I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry.' Rena glanced at Tadashi, who was staring at his hands and not saying a word. Her eyes drifted to the empty space on the bed where his leg should be, and she was brought unpleasantly back to the SFIT fire. Screaming at him to stay. The building exploding. Dragging Hiro to the hedges. The ambulances. Warm blood running down her leg. Clutching onto the police tape. Seeing them drag his body out. Sitting in the hospital for hours afterwards. 'I am sorry, truly. It was reckless and stupid, and I shouldn't have put you in that position again. But I'm okay now! I'm okay.' She turned to Tadashi, 'please forgive me. Both of you.'
'It's okay.' Tadashi choked out, 'I'm not angry.'
'You should be.'
'Now we're even.'
She laughed quietly before addressing Hiro, 'I think we're even too.'
The ghost of a smile was on her younger brother's face. 'Okay. My Christmas present better had be good.'
Rena rolled her eyes, 'what if I haven't got you one?'
'Then I really won't forgive you.'
