Notes: Sorry about taking so long, but the holidays majorly got in the way, what with all the driving to the various family gatherings over a week and a half. It put me behind schedule on all of my writing.
In the meantime, thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed thus far, both the ones who've raved about this story and the ones who expressed disappointment with the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this one.
Chapter 3
Hiro about had a panic attack when he heard the footsteps clattering on the stairs because of course his stubborn big brother hadn't stayed put. Why, Hiro wondered, had he thought it was a good idea to separate when he'd just gotten Tadashi back, anyways? At the very least he should've left Baymax to guard his brother.
Then, right before Hiro could reach the doors to the café, they burst open under the force of a tidal wave of microbots. Hiro cried out a warning as he was swept aside and slammed against a wall. He was suddenly glad he'd put his helmet back on earlier, as it protected his head. He struggled futilely even as he saw the others thrown into the small freezer they had beside the much larger walk-in fridge. It was old because they didn't use it as much as the fridge, and it looked like Callaghan had disabled what few safety features it still had.
"Hiro!" Baymax called out right before the door was slammed in the robot's face and welded shut by the microbots. Well that wasn't good. Then Hiro's attention was taken by Callaghan wearing the Yokai mask striding up to him.
"You have interfered for the last time," the man growled even as he extended a hand, his fingers looking like they were about to grip something. The microbots holding Hiro's arms let go of his limbs in order to wrap around his neck and lift him off the ground. Hiro choked and tried pulling the microbots away from his throat but, for every one he dislodged, another would take its place.
"I can't have you disrupting my plans," Callaghan continued blithely on even as he used his other hand to pull out a lighter and apply it to the rolling cart of towels and linen napkins Aunt Cass used for the café. The flames licked eagerly at the fabric even as Callaghan kicked the cart up against he far wall by one of the old wooden counters.
"Now to finish dealing with you."
"No!"
Hiro's eyes widened in surprise as he watched Tadashi tackle Callaghan. The microbots let Hiro go and he gasped and coughed even as he pressed a hand to his bruised throat. Then he scrambled for the fire extinguisher because the wall and counter had caught on fire as well. It was easy enough to grab - Aunt Cass had made sure of that after Hiro had accidentally started an electrical fire when he was five - but by then, Callaghan had caught Tadashi with the microbots.
"Hiro! Look out!" Tadashi yelled even as Callaghan sent a wall of microbots at Hiro.
Hiro pulled the pin, aimed, and hit the microbots with the chemical spray. The foam slowed them down but didn't stop them, but then Aunt Cass burst in, holding Mochi. She took one look at the situation before throwing Mochi at Callaghan. Mochi did not like being thrown. He yowled and tore into Callaghan with his claws, making the man cry out. The microbots dropped and then Aunt Cass was grabbing Hiro and Tadashi and dragging them out the service entrance and into the maze of alleys behind their house. Mochi followed, but so did Callaghan and the microbots.
"Hiro, what are you wearing? Never mind. Tell me later. Run!" Aunt Cass managed to say as they scrambled down the alley. They didn't stand a chance against something capable of matching the speed of a car but they gave it a spirited try. None of them made it to the end of the alley before the microbots overtook them.
Tadashi yelped at the horribly familiar feeling of being grabbed by the microbots as they arrested his flight. More slid past him and grabbed Hiro and Aunt Cass as well, making them cry out in surprise and alarm before the shroud of microbots holding them visibly tightened, making them both gasp.
"Can't breathe," Aunt Cass forced out. Hiro didn't even manage that much.
"Stop it! Let them go!" Tadashi shouted, struggling even as Callaghan walked calmly up to them. There was no sign Callaghan heard him at all as Tadashi's family continued to be slowly crushed by the microbots holding them.
"Please, let them go! You're hurting them!" Tadashi was openly begging now, even as he felt ashamed of doing so in front of his family. He hadn't wanted them to know what he'd gone through, to see how far he was willing to abase himself to keep himself and them safe, but the only other option seemed to be letting them get crushed right in front of him. "You'll kill them if you don't let them go!"
"That's the idea," Callaghan calmly stated, not turning away from the victims he was literally squeezing the life out of. Tadashi felt his breath catch in his throat at the sheer callousness of that statement. The man he'd once admired had every intention of murdering Tadashi's family right in front of him.
"No," Tadashi whispered in horror before the anger rose again and yelled, "No!" He struggled as hard as he could against the microbots holding him even as he continued to scream, "No! You can't! Please! I'll do whatever you want! Just don't hurt them! Please!"
Tadashi startled when Callaghan suddenly took Tadashi's face in his hands. He hadn't even realized he'd started crying until Callaghan ran his thumbs underneath Tadashi's eyes to wipe away the tears, even as he said, "Shh. It's alright. I'm here."
Tadashi trembled at the touch and glanced helplessly at his family, whose breathing had become shorter and their struggling more desperate. Hiro was looking right back at Tadashi with a horrified look even as he gasped for air. It reminded Tadashi he hadn't cried in front of Hiro since Tadashi was eight and he'd realized his open mourning for their then recently deceased parents was upsetting his baby brother. The few times he'd cried since, it was always somewhere private. At least until Callaghan had started the fire.
"Please, don't do this," Tadashi sobbed because his family was dying inch by inch as they suffocated in front of him and he couldn't stop it. "Please, don't kill my family."
Callaghan's grip on his face tightened enough to make Tadashi wince even as the man growled, "I am your family."
Tadashi looked at him, straight at the eyes of the mask, and defiantly stated, "So are they."
There was a pause that felt like forever but couldn't have been more than a second in all actuality before Callaghan sighed. The microbots loosened from their crushing grip and Hiro and Aunt Cass greedily took in several lung-fulls of air.
"The things I do for you," Callaghan said, shaking his head.
"So you have trouble not hurting people, do you, you sick, twisted bastard?!" Aunt Cass raged, struggling against the microbots still holding her captive. Tadashi couldn't quite see what Callaghan did next but it made Aunt Cass yelp.
"Leave her alone!" Hiro demanded even as Tadashi cried out, "Please, no!"
"You're alive for one reason and one reason only. Do not try my patience."
The wail of approaching sirens made Callaghan pause and look back at the café, which was now visibly aflame. Then he wrapped all three of his captives up in the microbots and fled.
Callaghan took them to an old, condemned apartment building. Hiro caught a glimpse of a sign warning of the derelict building's eventual demolishment but the date was weeks away. In the meantime, the windows and doors had been blocked and boarded up. Callaghan had obviously been there before, though, because he moved with familiarity through the wreck to what had once been a penthouse apartment.
The living room, while looking somewhat bare due to a lack of furniture, was large with a vaulted ceiling and several rooms led off from it. Callaghan moved through the room, turning on floor lamps that revealed not only the dingy room but that the man had hacked into the electrical grid. Meanwhile, the microbots dragged two chairs from what was either a dining room or kitchen and placed them back-to-back in the center of the room before plopping Hiro and Aunt Cass into them and holding them there. The microbots had yet to let Tadashi go, although it looked like they were cradling Hiro's brother, which was better than the tight, bruising grip they had on Hiro.
Callaghan, once he was done with the lights, went to a duffle bag left by one wall and pulled out several handcuffs and a large length of rope. Hiro growled at the thought that the bag's contents had been intended for Tadashi.
"Are you okay? Tell me you're okay!" Aunt Cass demanded as Callaghan tightly handcuffed Hiro's arms behind the chair.
"I'm fine. Never, ruh," Hiro grunted as Callaghan tightened one of the handcuffs painfully tight before finishing between clenched teeth, "been better."
"Tadashi?" Aunt Cass asked.
"I'm okay," Tadashi reassured their aunt even as Callaghan moved to handcuff her to her chair. Hiro wanted to break something when he heard her gasp and wince in pain as she was bound. Callaghan ignored their discomfort, however, and moved to wind the rope around her and Hiro, binding them and the chairs together.
"What are you doing to do with us?" Aunt Cass asked as Callaghan worked.
"That depends on Tadashi," the man replied as he finished tying them up. Callaghan then moved to handcuff Tadashi. He took a carabiner and threaded it through the chain of the handcuffs before, with the microbots lifting him up, hooking the carabiner into a metal eyelet someone, likely Callaghan himself, had screwed high up into the wall, forcing Tadashi's hands above his head while forcing Tadashi onto his toes and thus keeping the carabiner out of Tadashi's reach.
"There," Callaghan stated as he stepped back from Tadashi as he finished binding him, "This is only temporary while I run and grab a few things." He then placed a hand on top of Tadashi's head in an oddly affectionate gesture. Tadashi shivered but nodded.
"While I'm gone, I expect you to tell them the rules and the consequences of breaking them. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Tadashi murmured. Callaghan grabbed Tadashi's hair and pulled, making Hiro's brother yelp and frantically correct himself. "Father! I meant Father! I'm sorry, Father!"
"Leave him alone!" Hiro commanded, jerking in his chair even as Aunt Cass shrieked, "Get your hands off of my nephew, you creep!"
Callaghan gave them a cold look and stated, "Since you don't know the rules yet, I'll give you a warning this time. If you misbehave, Tadashi will be the one punished. I don't want to, believe me, but you are his responsibility. Do you understand?"
"We understand," Aunt Cass whispered bitterly. Callaghan focused on Hiro and Hiro was aware of Aunt Cass trying to look at him over her shoulder even as Tadashi gave him a pleading look even as Callaghan brutally yanked on his too-long hair.
"I got it," Hiro said venomously. He got that they were just another way for Callaghan to control Tadashi and it made Hiro furious. What he said was enough, though, because Callaghan stopped pulling Tadashi's hair and smoothed it back down, petting him like Tadashi was some sort of dog even as Tadashi quivered under the touch.
"Good," Callaghan said before untangling his fingers from Tadashi's hair and moving to leave. "I'll be right back." Then he was gone, taking the microbots with him.
Once they were alone, Aunt Cass asked, "Tadashi, baby, are you really okay?"
Hiro saw Tadashi try and put on a happy, reassuring mask so Hiro tried to make it clear non-verbally that he wasn't buying it. Hiro wasn't sure if it was his own expression, Aunt Cass's, or if Tadashi was just too exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally to pull off the charade, but the mask crumbled before he really got it up.
"I... No," Tadashi admitted in a broken voice. "No, I'm not. I'm sorry. I never meant for you to be... I didn't want you involved in all of this."
"Oh no, sweetie, no! This is not your fault," Aunt Cass insisted before going on. "It's that man's and when I get my hands on him, ooh, I'm going to rip him to shreds! No one touches my family! He's gonna be bloody confetti when I'm done. No, mincemeat! Then I can feed him to the cat!"
Hiro wondered what the hell she was doing until he saw Tadashi's expression. Shocked wonder gave way to fond amusement, complete with a tiny but genuine smile. It was much better than the broken look from before, so Hiro played along.
"Uh, Mochi's pretty fat," Hiro stated. "Should we be worried?"
"Don't be silly, sweetie. If I limited myself to feeding him only the flesh of my enemies, he'd be a lot thinner."
Hiro tried shooting her an incredulous look over his shoulder.
"Don't give me that look, mister."
"What look?" Hiro asked innocently.
"Ha! That doesn't fool me. I've got eyes in the back of my head!"
"Then all they'd be able to see is the back of my head," Hiro pointed out.
A laugh interrupted their mock fight. Sure, it sounded a step away from a sob, but it was still a laugh. When Tadashi finished laughing, he stated, "Wow, I didn't realize how much I missed this."
"Missed you too, sweetie," Aunt Cass murmured back.
Hiro just felt proud he'd made Tadashi laugh. Callaghan might have managed to steal Tadashi's confidence and God knows what else, but he hadn't taken Tadashi's laughter. He wouldn't, either, not if Hiro had any say. Still, based on the way the smile slid away, leaving a sort of melancholy despair etched into his brother's face, Hiro realized keeping Tadashi mentally, emotionally, and physically intact was going to be one of the hardest challenges he'd ever faced. He hoped their friends found them soon. Hiro wasn't sure how long Tadashi could last without breaking.