Nope, didn't forget about this story, this chapter was just being a bitch and argued with me to the point where I have 12 different drafts of this chapter all with different content even though the plot of the chapter is the same….
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I'm Okay
Chapter 6
Tadashi was locked to the same blasted pipe we first woke up next to. Apparently, the lock in the room he was in was broken or something, and since he evidently 'couldn't be trusted' he was back next to the pipe until Callaghan got the lock fixed.
"Yeah, I'll go over and get it." Tadashi heard Callaghan's hushed voice from around the corner.
"Great. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can finish." The same familiar voice answered.
Tadashi was getting tired of not knowing who this other person was, if both were involved with Tadashi having to sit there handcuffed to a damned pipe, he should have a right to know who the other guy is. Tadashi was pretty sure he has talked to the unnamed person before, or at least heard him speak.
The twenty-one year old huffed and leaned his head back against the wall behind him.
"Fixed the lock." The familiar voice commented.
"It better not break again." Callaghan muttered as him and the man he was talking with got closer to where Tadashi was.
The second guy mumbled something that Tadashi didn't catch. "You go do that, and I'll take him back to the room." The man spoke as if they had some kind of elaborate game plan they were getting ready to follow through with. Which was probably true, they obviously had enough of a plan to know that they would need Tadashi at some point.
But now at least maybe Tadashi will know who else is keeping him there, that's a tad bit of morbid curiosity.
The air fell quiet and still around him for a few moments time before he heard footsteps again, louder and closer this time, coming right towards where he was. In the time that Tadashi had spent there, he had come to recognize his captors' footfalls. Callaghan always seemed to be in a rush and in a very pissed off mood, his footsteps tended to be heavy and quick, like he was stomping off to somewhere. This other guy tended to be more of a 'smell the roses every now and then even if we have somewhere to be in five minutes' kind of person; always seeming to take his leisurely time going from point A to B when ever Tadashi heard him near, quiet and sure of himself.
Tadashi expected a calm, cool, and all together person come around the corner, but instead Allistar Krei stood in the middle of his field of vision. He was not who Tadashi was expecting to be standing there; especially when it seemed that Callaghan hated the man so unbelievably much, that if he could, Callaghan would have glared daggers and killed the man with a sideways look. So for the two of them to be working together on something…
It wasn't going to be a good end result.
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Krei didn't say much of anything other than a few half-assed apologies when Tadashi struggled to keep up with the surprisingly fast pace the man was trying to lead Tadashi with. And it didn't take Tadashi long to be shoved back into the room he was in the day before and the door slamming with a sense of finality that tended to sound from the thud of the metal door meeting the frame and the click of the lock.
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Tadashi leaned against the wall as he sat across from the door in the room. The light was shut off and the young adult was once more in the silent dark, not sure how much time had passed since Krei, because he's somehow involved in this, locked him in.
He was thankful back at home, he never really had a quiet moment; there was always some kind of noise. Either Hiro working on something late into the night, the window being open letting the noise from the street seep in, his aunt humming something as she tried out new recipes for the café, or even just Mochi getting into something or knocking something over. It was never silent. And he couldn't wait for the possibility to go back and never have another silent moment.
He was also thankful that Hiro, though the young would never ever admit to it, was slightly afraid of the dark so there was always some kind of night light in every room.
To give himself something to do, something to take his mind away from the waiting and anxiety of finding out what was going to happen to him next, he would rhythmically drum his hand against his leg, or the floor or whatever his hand just happened to be resting against; to beats of his favorite songs, or Hiro's, or his aunt's, or even to the scores of superhero movies Fred would always hum when he was in the lab.
He was just in the middle of the Iron Man theme song when the door swung open. Tadashi jumped at the sudden action.
Callaghan stood there, some kind of bottle in his hand, as he looked at his former student and he flipped the light on. "You're going to help me with something." His voice was kind of slurred. He stumbled a little as he made his way over to the twenty-one year old captive. Callaghan reached down and pulled Tadashi up by his shirt collar when the young man made no attempt to move.
Other than slowly walking, Tadashi made no other attempt at resisting, his shoulder still aching from the scuffle a few hoursdaysweeks ago, the concept of time was lost on him now.
Now beside the former professor, he could clearly understand why Callaghan slurred and why he couldn't walk in a straight line. The scent of alcohol hit Tadashi like a tidal wave, he was only walking next to the man and he could almost start looking for a lampshade to wear.
They finally stopped walking when they reached a spacious room, similar to the size of a gym.
"This is a portal from a project Krei," Callaghan hissed the name between his teeth, "started years ago, Silent Sparrow they had called it." He motioned to the almost put together circular machine. "I'm having issues rewiring it and programming it."
Tadashi gave the vengeful man a look. He remembered reading something about the project when he was younger. It was supposed to be a teleportation machine. It had worked when they would toss different objects into one portal and a few seconds later they came out the other one. Then something went wrong when they were demonstrating it to a group of government officials. The pilot got lost in between the two portals, some kind of margin number was off or miscalculated; one portal exploded, the other started pulling things into it before it was shut down and destroyed.
"And just what do you want me to do about it?" Tadashi snapped, already knowing what Callaghan wanted him to do.
Callaghan turned to look at the young man beside him. "I've seen your coding, and your wiring. I want you to fix it."
He had a feeling that what he was about to say was going to land himself in deep trouble. "No." Tadashi simply stated as he felt himself tighten up, ready for some kind of physical violence that seemed to happen whenever he tried to refuse to fix something. "This was shut down for a reason."
He was expecting Callaghan to punch him or push him closer to the portal; he wasn't prepared for Callaghan to slam him against a wall and press an arm harshly against his throat.
"I am in no mood for these little games you try to play, mister Hamada." The teacher growled. Callaghan was smarter this time, standing off to the side to avoid being kicked when Tadashi tried to get the arm off his airway.
"Too bad." The twenty-one year old managed to rasp out, sound barley making past his lips. He tried his damn hardest to pry, to pull, to push the offending appendage off of him as spots danced in his vision – even though his eyes weren't open anymore.
Tadashi could smell the alcohol on Callaghan's breath when he spoke next. "It's not up to you. You're either going to fix the codes and wires," He paused for a moment, loosening his hold on the former student as Callaghan pulled something out of his pocket, in one swift movement, he had the object out of his pocket, opened and pressed against the underside of Tadashi's jaw.
Tadashi didn't even have to see what it was when he felt the cold metal pressed against his skin, dangerously close to an artery.
"Or I could just end your miserable existence." Callaghan muttered darkly into the petrified male's ear.
Too bad his brain and his mouth weren't on the same page at that precise moment. "Then you'd have to do this on your own." Tadashi stupidly mumbled. Really, he should just shut up and do as he's told not asked because that's not in whatever evil-doer's handbook Callaghan's been reading. I should stop hanging out with Fred so much. His thought's got sidetracked as he tried to somehow think of a way out of the current situation.
The chuckle that the former professor let out made chills run down the Hamada's spine, and somehow, even more fear crept into the young adult's bones. "Ran into your little brother and your friends yesterday." The man spoke in a way that was so calm, as if they were chatting over coffee.
The robotics student saw this conversation going two ways; one way would be hanging Hiro's life over his head to get Tadashi to fix the portal; or getting Hiro in there and holding Tadashi's life above the young teen's head. Both were not good scenarios.
"You're brother is very annoying, don't you agree?" Callaghan continued.
Tadashi finally cracked his eyes open to look at the demented man next to him. "Nope."
That raised an eyebrow on the drunken middle-aged man. "Really? You, an older brother do not find your younger sibling annoying?"
Of course Tadashi did. All younger siblings annoy their older sibling, its in the handbook; just like being protective of the younger is in the older's handbook. But Tadashi wasn't going to agree with a crazy man! "Nope." He repeated, voice surprisingly strong and unwavering despite his growing fear.
"Hmm." The man hummed. "That's different. Anyway, you can either fix this portal," He flicked the pocketknife to point at the broken machine before pressing it back to the young man's neck. "Or you'll be going home in a body bag." He pressed the weapon a little harder into the soft flesh beneath the sharp edge.
For a moment, as cliché as it was, Tadashi swore his life flashed before his eyes. And the look Hiro had given him as he pulled out of the fourteen year old's grasp was the last thing to flash through his mind before Tadashi decided to take the crazy train.
He looked Callaghan in the eye as he mentally formulated a plan, of course, it wouldn't be a very good plan. But a plan nonetheless.
"So what will it be?" Callaghan slightly slurred.
Tadashi took in a deep breath turned his head to the side to get a better view of Callaghan's face before he spit in it, throwing his former professor off.
Callaghan let go of the young adult in favor of letting out a sound of disgust and to wipe his face.
While the newly-named evil man was distracted, Tadashi swiftly pushed the older man in the chest, knocking him back and dropping the knife in the process.
"Robert!" Krei's voice suddenly chose that moment to gloriously pierce through the air. Callaghan slightly pulled the knife away from where it had been pushing lightly against Tadashi's neck.
Tadashi let his head fall back to the ground and a sigh of relief slip inaudibly past his lips.
"I think it's time for you to get some rest." Krei walked over, almost slowly, and gently pried the older male off the student. "You've been up far too long, and I'm getting the feeling that you're not thinking completely clear right now." He glanced at the life-fearing young man on the ground when he got Callaghan up. "You go on home now." He ushered the man out of the room before hauling Tadashi up off the cement ground.
"I'll, uh, I'll get working on the, uh, the thing." The twenty-one year old motioned to the portal pieces across the room, hand visibly shaking in the process.
Krei looked at him for a passing second before nodding and walking toward the small-connected room. "We don't have all week. Hurry up and get it done." Was all the older male said as he disappeared out of Tadashi's spotty line of sight.
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This chapter….. this blasted chapter….. Just ignore this chapter. It didn't want to be written, I should have respected it's decision. So uh, don't judge the horrible writing and bad cover up writing as I tried to move things along. I don't want this story to be as long as the other two, chapter wise, and word wise… I guess.
Just ignore this chapter.