All I Have Left

By, SilentTaboo

Chapter 2: Nightmares and Scoldings

Tadashi sagged with relief as he pulled into the Lucky Cat Café rather awkwardly. The moped originally made for one person was not very accommodating to a man in his twenties and two teenagers. Amaya ended up riding on the support bar connecting the seat to the handles while Hiro clung onto him from behind. He had ridden significantly slower to accommodate the weight, and to maneuver around turns without dumping anyone off. It didn't help that Amaya had held onto the handles with a death grip the entire ride, making turning all that much harder.

But, they had made it home in one peace, and if he could get food into them all and have both teens asleep within the next hour and a half, he could consider his self appointed task a success. He just hoped Aunt Cass wasn't still up. It was going on 10:30, and he knew that Amaya's nerves were already frayed from the long day of inventive failure, meeting Hiro, and the "moped ride from Hell" as he had heard her name it as Tadashi peeled her off the bike. Aunt Cass had always been an enthusiastic woman, and he had a feeling that the resulting energetic and anti-personal-space greeting would throw Amaya into the early stages of a panic attack. It wouldn't have been the first time; she had them semi-frequently and refused to tell anyone exactly why she had them. Tadashi had studied medicine enough during the early stages in Baymax's programming, however, to be able to at least guess a good cause.

He tucked her under his arm just in case, hoping to ward off his Aunt should she happen to be in the run-and-greet mood. He sighed when he unlocked to door to realize that the Café lights had been turned off. That usually meant that Aunt Cass had gone to bed. Well, the night's battle then was half won. No panic attack meant no condition induced adrenaline rush for Amaya. That meant there would be no need for him to wait for her energy crash and no need to use the medical tranquilizers that he knew she carried with her everywhere.

Tadashi turned on the lights on his way through the door and headed straight for the kitchen. "Come on guys, and be as quiet as you can. I think Aunt Cass is already in bed." He saw Amaya sag slightly out of the corner of his eye.

"Why are we headed to the kitchen, Tadashi?" Hiro asked earning an eye roll.

"Well, since someone decided to skip dinner to go bot fighting resulting in our few hours of jail time this evening, and someone else decided it was okay to skip meals in favor of staying in the lab for seven hours straight, I think it's time to feed the teens."

"You went to jail?" Amaya asked looking around the industrial sized kitchen as Tadashi put a pot onto boil. He figured Ramen would be quick enough, though not very nutritious. He made a mental note to get up early and help Aunt Cass fix an actual breakfast the next morning.

Hiro gave a nervous laugh as Tadashi fixed him with a heated glare before addressing Amaya's question. "Yeah, Night Rain. My bonehead brother here decided to go bot fighting in gang territory. From what I heard muttered under the breaths of the guys shoved in the same cell as me, he hustled winnings out of them as well. I went to save his sorry hide and the police had blocked the alley."

Amaya could practically feel the bitter sarcasm lacing his words together and couldn't help but grin. Apparently she wasn't the only one that could do something to make him talk like that. "Aunt Cass came to bail me out (it's on my permanent record now by the way, thanks Hiro) and pick him up from juvenile detention, before this idiot decided he wanted to go bot fighting again, not an hour after being released. I offered to take him so at least we could maybe get out of there this time before the cops showed up, and decided to swing by the lab first. I'm glad I did too. Were you even planning on going home tonight, or were you just going to keep programming and testing hundreds of nanobots until you past out from exhaustion and dehydration, Rain?" He asked while placing a bowl of noodles in front of her.

It was her turn to laugh nervously before picking up her chopsticks and playing with her food. "I—uh. Yes?"

"Yes to what? There were two options there Amaya." Ohhhh, he was using her first name now. She shrunk a little in her chair. He only did that when he was seriously ticked.

"To both, I guess." She said in a small voice. He glared at her while Hiro tried to hide his snicker behind chopsticks full of noodles. "I was planning on going home eventually, maybe around one if I didn't get it figured out by then, but I hadn't really set a time. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong." She said her voice growing with her frustration. "I analyzed your DNA about a million times! I set the bots to recognize that and act like a white blood cell. I mean, I didn't even ask them to do anything hard like induce rapid cell growth or destroy irregular cells. They just keep blowing up. If I accidently put something in you that decides to blow up all your white blood cells then you could d-die, and if you d-die because of m-me, I-I-I—" Tadashi put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her with a look.

"Breath, Rain. I get it. Remember the night I tested out Baymax?" Amaya nodded. "I was certain that I would never get him figured out. I had more bruises from Baymax's first attempts at helping then I think I have had at any point in my life, and as far as your worry about the bots you are programming for me. Relax. It took you over a year to figure out how to program your own before anyone allowed you to introduce them into your system, and I don't expect you to program them for a second person in as small amount of time as the two weeks you've been working on mine. That's really a ridiculous request. I know that Callaghan is pushing you to finish these sooner than last time, but I don't think he meant for you to work yourself sick. Working late every once in a while is fine, but not every day, okay?" Amaya nodded again.

She still had no idea how he did that. Usually when she started to get that worked up and upset around Tadashi, he had some sort of superhuman ability to say just what she needed to hear, and know exactly what was wrong. Also, his slow, calm tone he used when this happened made calming down just that much easier.

"Now, eat. Neither one of you is getting up until you've finished all of your food. Then, homework or not, you're both going to bed. I'll give you something to where tonight, but if you want new clothes for tomorrow we're going to have to leave early and drive to your apartment. I don't think anything either one of us has will fit you. Is that what you want to do?" She shook her head.

"I have spare clothes in my locker at school. I can change when we get there." Tadashi nodded before going to wash out the pot that he had used to cook their dinner with.

He was happy that except for that almost hiccup, the night was going smoothly. He wasn't all that thrilled with Amaya's lack of enthusiasm for eating at the moment. He was almost sure that if he took her food from her now, she wouldn't protest. Heck, she might even thank him. He really needed to have a talk with Callaghan about her work load and maybe have him set a limit on how late she could stay.

Tadashi frowned. It was unlikely he would be able to convince him though. Since Amaya had started there, he had made it amply clear that the only reason she had been accepted besides her early graduation was her tech. Presentation wise, she hadn't made a great impression. Her social skills were extremely lacking, and Callaghan often pushed her in an attempt to desensitize her shyness. He didn't believe that she would be very successful in the future if she stuttered every other word.

In fact, about two months before her biggest breakthrough on the nanobots, Callaghan was very tempted to kick her out of the program. If he and all of his friends hadn't stood up and claimed that if Amaya was forced to transfer, they would transfer with her, it was very likely she would be attending another college or skipped college and gone straight for a job. None of them had ever mentioned her almost expulsion or what they did to keep her at SFIT, but he had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another, she knew anyway. It was most likely why she was pushing herself so hard now to complete the nanobots.

Don't get him wrong, for the most part, he loved his mentor, but there were times…

"We're done." Hiro said breaking him out of his though process.

+++AIHL+++ST+++AIHL+++ST+++AIHL+++ST+++AIHL+++ST+++AIHL+++

Tadashi hadn't been surprised when Amaya had made her pallet between the little bit of space between his bed and the wall, keeping him between her and Hiro. He also hadn't been surprised when not five minutes after they had all laid down both teens were out like a light and he dropped off not to long after.

What had surprised him had been a noise that woke him up. At first he had laid there groggy with sleep, lacking any proper desire to move. The second time he heard the noise he turned on his side slightly confused as to why he was hearing whimpering and muffled crying beside his bed. Then he remembered Amaya. Sitting up completely he glanced at his alarm clock. It was 3:16 AM; they had been asleep for a little over three hours.

"Rain?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep.

A louder muffled sob answered him. He flipped on his night lamp hoping it wouldn't wake Hiro as well. He didn't want to have to go to the hassle of putting both of them to back to bed or answering any of his little brother's questions pertaining what was probably a horrific nightmare. He doubted Rain would be okay to anyone knowing; he doubted even, that she had meant for him to know.

When the light turned on, the sight that greeted him broke his heart. Amaya was curled up into a tight ball both hands over her mouth as she tried to stifle her sobs even after getting caught. She was shaking all over, and Tadashi could tell that her breathing was getting very uneven.

Without a word he bent over his bed, scooping up the quivering ball, placing her on his lap. His first concern was getting her to calm down while trying not to wake Hiro. He gently coaxed her out of her ball before trying to pull her hands away from her face. She shook her head furiously, only allowing him to remove one hand as the other pressed harder to her mouth.

Next, he turned her so she was sitting sideways in his lap with the side of her head pressed over his heart, holding her to him tightly. "Come on, Rain, calm down. It was just a bad dream. Breath, you're okay."

Slowly she got her breathing under control, and as Amaya became less concerned with hyperventilation, she became aware of the awkwardness of the situation, but was too exhausted to care. She was certain she would be mortified in the morning, but for the time being, the images from that night and the horrors that followed were still playing through her head. Having Tadashi holding her grounded her in reality, with the hard truth that it all had happened, but it wasn't happening anymore.

Very few people knew that she had a reason to stutter every time she was forced to meet someone new, for fearing crowds and large open spaces, for forcing her way into emancipation even though, when she was alone and feeling just a little sorry for herself, she would admit that she might not mind having someone truly care for her again. She had a reason for her nightmares. After all she had lived through many in her waking hours over the past three years.

"Is this something you want to talk about Rain?" Amaya quickly shook her head no.

Very few people knew her secrets, and she wanted to keep it that way. Tadashi was in less danger if he didn't know.

Tadashi sighed. He had a feeling she would not want to talk about it. "Alright. Do you think you'll be able to go back to sleep now?"

He watched her give a slow nod refusing to meet his eyes. "Do you want to sleep on the floor or up here with me?"

She opened her mouth to answer but hesitated forcing out a sigh. Tadashi gave a small smile remembering that look from Hiro's nightmares. It was a look that spoke all too well of the desire to sleep where they felt safest, while wanting desperately to hold onto their pride. Tadashi chucked not giving her a choice after seeing that look. He pulled the both of them up closer to the head of the bed before making Amaya lay down while pulling up the blankets.

"Just don't hog the covers, Rain." He whispered turning off the lamp.

"Okay." She whispered back weakly sniffling slightly. "Thanks, Tadashi."

Across the room a fourteen year old laid awake in his bed. He had woken to the sounds of Amaya crying not too long ago only to find that the lamp next to Tadashi's bed had been turned on and his older brother was in the process calming the girl down.

He had a feeling that what Amaya had experienced was more than the average nightmare. He remembered eaves dropping on a conversation Tadashi had had with Aunt Cass about the girl when she first started attending SFIT. He could practically hear it now.

"There's a new girl in the lab. She's only a year older than Hiro and every bit as bright as he is. She got in on scholarship for her nanobot research. Professor Callaghan thinks that she can make them work. If she can it could be a huge leap for the medical community…" He heard his brother's voice trail off in what he imagined to be deep thought.

"But?" Aunt Cass prompted.

"But." Tadashi said with a sigh. "She's all alone from what I can tell. She's skittish. She stutters when ever she's talking to anyone. It reminds me of how I was when I first came to live with you. I was a few years younger than her at the time, but it's still very similar. From what I remember from that patient psychology class, she shows signs of trauma. Fred asked her about her family and she informed us she has none. She's living alone in an apartment somewhere across town.

"She's fifteen, Aunt Cass… I just don't feel that it's right for someone so young to so, so…" He couldn't seem to find the proper words.

"Independent and grown up?" She offered.

"Yeah." Hiro could imagine his brother folding his arms and looking at his knees.

"I remember how you where when you came to live with me Tadashi. You were a little skittish and very quiet for a child after your parents died, but with time you grew out of it. If you are really worried for this girl, try just being there for her. Get to know her and make sure she knows your there. She may have had to grow up before her time, and there is really nothing anyone can do to reverse that, but no one should go through life alone."

He truly understood his brother's concern now. Whatever this girl had gone through, if the sobbing was anything to go by, was nothing short of horrific. No teenager wanted to cry like she had, and it made him really want to do something to help her.

He decided then that he would take Aunt Cass's advice to Tadashi as well. It would be a lot easier to accomplish once he started going to SFIT as well. Speaking of which, maybe he could ask Amaya for advice for the Science Expo. After all, that was how she got in too. If he couldn't do anything else, he could at least bounce ideas and trade suggestions with her.

+++ Another chapter down! I'm excited about this one, and don't worry guys the exciting stuff with start happening soon. It was really hard not to give anything too big away this early in the story especially with Amaya's thought process.

Also I have a question that I need answered:

Should Aunt Cass at any point in this story adopt Amaya? Yes or no.

I could also use some suggestions for that if your answer is yes.

REVIEW!