8:
Tadashi's four friends looked at him like he had suddenly lost his mind, blinking dumbly, and he just steeled his expression as he continued to eye the four of them down expectantly. Behind them, Baymax was watching expressionlessly.
It was kind of unnerving, especially considering he's spent his whole life surrounded by living creatures with such expressive emotions.
"Aw, little man," Fred said first which wasn't all that surprising considering he seemed to be the most open about everything, "Of course we'll help you."
"Yeah," GoGo agreed with a single nod, eyes dark with something he couldn't identify, "Tadashi Hamada is our friend too."
Hiro felt something loosen in his chest as his shoulders slumped in relief. If he was honest then he'd admit that he wasn't sure how he would be able to find and rescue his brother all by himself. He figured that some part of him just knew that he just couldn't do alone- Avatar or not.
A quick glance at the others and they all seemed to just sort of nod at him, as if saying that there wasn't much of anything that would prevent them from helping him. It warmed his heart, and he forced his tense muscles to relax some as he tried to think of a way to rescue his brother.
He'd been captured by the Empire which meant they were going to take him to the Tower- the tallest building in the whole city. It was also the most heavily guarded and close to impossible to get close enough to see anything that would resemble an entrance, much less break into.
He closed his eyes in thought, turning from his friends to try and force his brain to work the way he wanted it to. All he could see, though, was his brother falling to the ground surrounded by guards and another wave of panic shot through him.
"Whoa, little man!" Wasabi suddenly shouted and Hiro opened his eyes only to realize that most of the cobblestones under his feet had been ripped from the earth and was now hovering around him in a loose circle.
He blinked again, and they tumbled back to the ground.
"Sorry," he apologized when he turned around and saw all of them staring at him in shock, "I usually have much better control. I just-"
His fingers dug into the soft flesh of his palms- creating small crescent shapes- as he ducked his expression behind his bangs, suddenly mortified. It was like Tadashi took all his control with him.
"Hey, don't worry so much about it," Honey Lemon reassured in a light tone as she reached out to set her hand against his shoulder but stopped as if suddenly unsure rather or not she was allowed to touch him.
Hiro turned away momentarily before focusing back on all of them and nodded, "Thanks. I really have appreciated everything you've done for me and my brother."
"Don't mention it," GoGo said and the 'I mean it' went unsaid.
Hiro grinned at her, knowing that she wasn't one to express her feelings openly. Then his eyes flickered towards the others and he knew they were all thinking along the same lines as GoGo. They didn't regret saving him and weren't going to turn away when he obviously needed them the most right now.
"So… what's the plan?" Fred asked, practically vibrating from his excitement as he continued to gaze at Hiro expectantly.
"We find out where they're holding my brother," Hiro explained after a quick glance around at his friends, "and we get him back. No matter what."
Tadashi woke up in a cell, hands twisted behind him in a way that would've been painful if the limbs hadn't been numb. He was sitting on his knees towards the center of the room, head bent down far enough so his chin was touching his bare chest.
He blinked at the immodesty, though he was still wearing pants- thank goodness. It was bad enough he'd been caught, subdued in the middle of the street like a common criminal, but now they were stripping him of his clothes?
Not.
Cool.
He shook the thoughts away, sitting up straight as he took a quick glance around the cell- bare and cold. The four walls were made from, what he guessed, the same stuff the wall outside was, and he was surprised to find that all of them were completely dry. Not even the slightest bit of moisture.
He realized then how thorough the Empire was.
No earth, no water, no sense of heat, and no windows, making the air seem stale and heavy- practically suffocating. There wasn't even a risk of any Bender escaping, and it seemed like the whole thing was made to hold the Avatar.
Tadashi sighed, feeling goosebumps start to inch across his skin as the cold slowly started to take over and the only sense of comfort he found was knowing that they hadn't caught Hiro too. If they had then he would know and wouldn't just be sitting there.
He thought briefly of his gap-toothed kid who's been through so much- too much- and felt something heavy in his chest when he realized he would probably never see him again. Benders that have been caught don't tend to last very long- a week at the most.
A jolt of pain pierced his skull and he winced, remembering how the electricity hadn't worked on him. If anything it had made him feel stronger and he managed to take a couple of the guards out before they resorted to clubbing him across the skull with their prods.
That did it.
It was a good strike, he knew. Any harder and he could've ended up with a bad concussion or worse- a crushed skull. He also knew that chances were it had been a lucky shot. There was no need for the guards to practice clubbing defiant benders since electrocuting them into submission seemed to have worked so well before.
He grinned, despite the pain still lingering in the back of his head, at the knowledge of making their lives as difficult as he could; images of the two guards he managed to electrocute crumple to the ground- unconscious, not dead- flashing through his brain.
They deserved it, and he knows he could probably be considered a hypocrite since he's spent his whole life teaching Hiro that hurting people was considered wrong and under no circumstance should his little brother resort to violence, but it had felt so good. Still felt good.
He shuffled, his legs too numb, and the chains keeping his wrists bond behind him clinked together noisily. He froze, twisting his head to get a better look at them. They were huge and thick with heavy chains dangling off from them, binding him to the floor.
He wiggled his fingers- just to see if he could- and was surprised when he found that they still obeyed- though his hands felt cold. Not quite numb though he could tell that in a couple of hours he'd probably be there.
That is, if he had a couple of hours.
He glanced back around the room, finding the door directly in front of him and at first he was surprised by how much it didn't look like a door. It was the same color as the walls surrounding it, blending in surprisingly well.
It was the slightest hint of a crack between it and the floor that gave it away as anything but a wall and he narrowed in on it wondering what they were waiting for. He sort of expected guards to flood his cell the second he woke up and was confused on why they haven't.
"Hello?" he called sitting up straighter, "I'm awake! Come on now, let me have it! Beat me or curse me or whatever it is you do so we can get on with this!"
Nothing.
Not even a shuffle.
The door remained bolted closed and he frowned at it, wondering if they were just busy with other Benders but somehow doubted it.
"Alright," he shouted at what he expected to be nothing, "It's your loss!"
Still nothing and he relaxed some, not really relieved to know that they were waiting for something, or someone, and there was no doubt in his mind who that person was- his little brother.
The Avatar.
"Uh, sir, shouldn't we have done something by now?" the nervous guard twitched, causing the Emperor to frown, though he didn't remove his eyes from the screen where the fire bender sat probably bored out of his mind.
Good, he thought maliciously because- out of all of them- he loathed fire benders the most, beaten out only by the Avatar.
"Patience," he chided eyes narrowed on the slim frame of the bender, hands twisted painfully behind his back as he sat completely straight, as if he was waiting for something.
He didn't appear to be scared, which confused him.
He didn't seem to be anything as he waited patiently for his fate to be revealed, staring at the door like it would suddenly clang open and guards would flood in only to mock how he wasn't going to make it past today, rubbing in the fact that he was now theirs and how they were going to make him hurt.
Under any normal occasion the Bender would've been correct and they would've done a lot more than mere mockery. This was anything but normal, though, and the Emperor thought back to the café he had ordered burned down because the owner was too far in debt and he had grown tired of waiting so he just had his men burn it down.
Just the woman had died and he ordered a search for the kids but drew back when he realized they were staying in a shelter. There was no harm with that, he supposed, and the shelters were a far worst punishment than anything he could've done to them anyways.
That was back when he still thought of them as human.
He had no reason to consider otherwise. The woman in the café was human as were- from what little he bothered to dig up- were their parents. And the boys were clever, not showing a single sign of being benders much less the Avatar- as he's informed the youngest is.
It was more than slightly impressive.
All Benders try to keep secret about what they all really are, but he's always been able to figure it out. A flaw in the way they carry themselves as he masterly picked them each out one by one.
The boys didn't seem to have any flaws.
Not even when the little one was being drowned by a rogue bender they were trying to capture, barely saved when the guards had forced the bender in unconsciousness. The boy had had the means of saving himself but was more afraid of being caught and had trusted the guards to rescue him and manage to keep his secret.
Crafty.
"Uh… sir," the guard murmured nervously behind him and he blinked back to the monitor, dropping his gaze down to his hands practically crushing the long metal bar he was clutching with a ferociousness he hasn't used before.
He unfolded them carefully, slowly, and he knew they were itching to get themselves around the younger one's throat- not that he was planning to kill the Avatar just yet.
Not when he could still be so useful.
He snorted at himself, a menacing grin start its way on his face as his eyes glared at the Bender they managed to capture. An admittedly difficult catch, managing to knock out two of his men as he seemed to have channeled the electricity through his body.
He knew his men were itching to, hating this particular one the most, but they weren't going to kill him- not yet, at least.
Not when he still had a use.
Here's the thing about suddenly becoming the Empire's Number One Fugitive: they would search the ends of the Earth to find you and once they had you death was imminent.
Hiro knew this.
He also knew that the best course of getting to his brother would be to get caught, and if the Empire didn't kill him then Tadashi certainly would. No good. He needed a new plan, preferably one where he didn't get an eerie chill down his spine every time he thought about it.
Besides, he'd no be good to his brother if he got caught.
Having a large walking white marshmallow robot everywhere you go just made staying undetected incredibly difficult. He was enough to draw them unwanted attention and Hiro knew that once they focused on them then it no longer mattered how well he kept hidden. Someone was bound to recognize him.
Perhaps that had been why him and Baymax were left by themselves in the alley while the other four scoured the area in search of a place to hide until they (in which they all really meant Hiro) were able to come up with a plan to rescuing Tadashi.
Easy.
Except not really and Hiro was starting to grow bored.
"Hey Baymax?" he spoke for the first time in hours as he sat curled up next to the inflatable robot, feeling a sort of comfort with being near him, which was odd considering what he had been built for.
"Yes Hiro?" Baymax asked and though his voice still sounded neutral Hiro liked to think that there had been a hint of curiosity behind his words.
Hiro shuffled, drawing his knees to his chest as he continued playing with his fingers, wording his next sentence carefully, "Do you remember much? When they decided to terminate you?"
"I was operational the entire time, if that is what you are asking," Baymax explained, and Hiro paused momentarily because he could never imagine…
"Did it hurt?" he inquired as he pulled away far enough to gaze up in the robot's black gaze and his heart went out to the invention.
"I am a robot," Baymax replied like it was the simplest thing in the world, "I am incapable of feeling pain."
"Yeah, but, did it make you feel betrayed?" Hiro continued as he urged for him to understand everything he couldn't put into words, "To have those people turn on you so suddenly? Did that not hurt?"
"I was simply a failure," Baymax offered and Hiro could've banged his head repeatedly against the wall in frustration now, "I could no longer achieve their purpose so they disposed of me. I do not understand why I would feel betrayed."
"Course not," Hiro agreed as he settled back against his friend, "You're still new to all of this. Don't worry though, I'll protect you. No matter what."
"Hiro, do not waste empty promises on me," Baymax advised, and Hiro just shook his head as he pulled further within himself.
"It's not empty," Hiro promised, "I'll protect you and Tadashi and Honey Lemon and Wasabi and Fred and GoGo. Everyone. I will protect everyone."
"One person is incapable of protecting everyone," Baymax informed and if it had been anyone else- anyone at all- he would've found offense in the words.
It wasn't anyone, though, it wasn't even a someone. It was Baymax, a robot who couldn't even see how the Empire did him wrong by ditching him in that alley.
"It's not," Hiro said instead as he focused on his fingers dangling in between his legs, "as long as that one person is the Avatar."
Baymax didn't reply.
He just continued sitting, in silence, and Hiro suddenly felt his mind slip and wander. Most of the time in the alley he's spent keeping his mind occupied on the present, trying to think up plans on rescuing his brother, but not that he finally allowed himself to flash back he couldn't help but see orange and white and black and he felt his chest seize in sudden panic.
"Mochi!" Hiro gasped as he scrambled to his feet to stare wide eyed at his unnervingly calm companion as he ran his hand through his bangs, shoving them up on the top of his head.
"I do not understand what food-"
"Mochi isn't food," Hiro protested as he calculated the odds of rushing all the way back to the shelter, find his cat and escape without getting caught, "He's a stray cat we took in from the streets. Amongst all the chaos he got left behind at the shelter. How could I be so stupid?"
As it to emphasize that point, he banged his fists against his head.
"I have to go back," Hiro decided with a gasp as he spun on his heels to take down the alley, "I have to find him before the Empire does."
Baymax caught his wrist, drawing him back to a stop.
Hiro would've probably punched him in the face, if he thought that that would've helped. He knew logically, though, that it wouldn't.
"Baymax," he growled instead, though the noise sounded more like a groan as he turned large brown eyes at the robot, begging him with his expression to release him so he could go save his cat.
"Your health is my top priority," Baymax just explained, obviously immune to what Tadashi always enjoyed calling Hiro's puppy dog eyes.
Stupid robots.
"Baymax," Hiro protested instead, shaking his head firmly because he won't back down from this, "I lost Tadashi. I can't lose Mochi too."
It was strange but he knew he meant it.
Nothing would ever to be able to replace his brother, but he had grown attached to his cat the longer they spent time together. If he had to harbor a guess then he'd say it was because Mochi had helped distract him from the loss of his aunt. He'd been there to comfort him in ways Tadashi never would've been able to.
"Hiro," Baymax just replied and it sounded like a reprehend, "If you go back then they will most likely catch you."
Hiro knew that.
He already calculated his odds and knew they were slim and by slim he meant highly improbable- not impossible. Never impossible. He didn't believe in impossible.
Baymax, however, must have.
"Baymax please," Hiro begged as he tugged on his arms, fighting back the tears threatening to fall from his eyes, "I can't lose anything else. Please don't make me."
His voice broke somewhere at the end, it cracking for a reason that had nothing to do with his progressing puberty. Baymax just blinked before loosening his grip.
Hiro jerked free immediately, turning on his heels and sprinting down the alley. Behind him he was aware of Baymax waddling after him, trying to keep up but was still too slow. He decided then that if he managed to survive the next couple of hours then he'd have to upgrade the robot, make him a little more useful than a plushy marshmallow thing that was able to detect Benders.
The Empire were idiots, throwing away something so valuable.
He hurried along the shadows to the buildings, ducking in and out of crowds as he made his way back to the shelter. Somewhere along then, he lost track of the robot.
The shelter- to no surprise- was crowded with people and Imperial Guards. The man in charge was out front, on his knees and surrounded by several of the guards in Imperial uniforms. None of them looked happy.
Hiro slowed to a stop, observing from a safe distance as he was able to faintly make out that the man was talking. He looked scared, skin pale and sweat beading on the sides of his forehead while the guards who were surrounding him just frowned, brows furrowing behind the visors they wore.
Hiro swallowed, feeling his heart sped up as he realized something bad was about to happen, and then the man must have said something the guards didn't like because the next moment they were striking him. Hard. Against his temple with one of their prods and Hiro flinched as he resisted the urge to cry out.
He went down, body going limp, and the guard that stuck him caught the back of his shirt so he didn't land face first against the ground. He was frowning, face puckered like he had eaten something sour as he demanded something. From his expression, Hiro would've said that it hadn't been the first time.
The man, who now had a trail of blood leading down his face, swallowed as he shook his head. He was trembling too, and Hiro felt something tightened in his chest.
Sure the man hadn't let him inside that one day he was late but that was law and everyone feared the Empire. He was just obeying their leaders and was afraid of getting caught, even when it appeared like no one else was around. Plus, he had given them a home when they had nothing left.
He wasn't the villain here.
Hiro swallowed again as every instinct he had urged him to rush forever, fight the guards off and rescue the man. He didn't because he knew that he couldn't. The guards would catch him and would end up killing the man anyways. He looked halfway there anyways.
They struck him again and this time allowed him to slump on the ground as they jabbed the toes of their boots into his side, kicking.
Hiro's stomach revolted and he spun around, back pressed against the wall he was hiding behind, as he sank down to a crouch. His hands were shaking and pale as he pressed them against his mouth, eyes wide in shock at the cruelty.
The man wasn't even been a Bender.
He was human, and they were hurting him.
"Hiro," Baymax finally said when he managed to catch up, and if he had a mouth then Hiro was sure that he would be frowning as he seemed to eye him worriedly as he repeated, "Hiro?"
"Baymax, they're going to kill him," Hiro gasped, panic making his voice tight as he tried forcing the words out, "He's human, and they're going to kill him."
Baymax blinked again before looked up and he must have saw and realized the problem because he drew real close to him all of a sudden, like he intended to comfort him. Hiro let him, shaking too badly to do anything other than bury his face in the soft vinyl of the robot.
"We should go," Baymax finally informed and Hiro shook his head because he had come for Mochi and wasn't leaving until he had him.
"No," he protested pulling away, standing on uneasy feet as he forced his heart to calm down to no prevail, "I need to find Mochi. Come on, we can find a window to climb through."
They circled around the alley, coming towards the back of the shelter. Hiro found a window easily enough, one he calculated to be close enough to his bed.
"Come on Baymax," he urged, waving him over impatiently before starting to climb up his body to stand on his head as he reached up towards the window.
"I advise the use of caution," Baymax protested but didn't make a move to physically stop him anymore, "a fall from this height could cause great bodily harm."
"Uh huh," Hiro agreed, fingers closing around the window seal and he managed to pull him up and over it, landing gracefully on a thankfully empty bed.
He glanced around, surprised to find it barren of everyone.
They must have been forced out once they realized the Avatar had been sleeping in it the whole time and had escaped once he revealed himself. Unfortunately, that meant Mochi was nowhere to be found.
He crept over to where he had stayed, shifting through his stuff. He stuffed his robot and spare parts he had collected inside his hoodie pockets before creeping down the rows of carefully lined beds in search of any signs of his still missing cat.
"Hey!" someone called and he froze, ducking underneath his hoodie as a guard strolled over and grabbed his forearm tightly, "I thought we said everyone had to wait outside!"
Hiro just nodded, allowing himself to be jerked out with the rest of the people wishing he knew how to control electricity like Tadashi; something the brothers had discovered by accident.
He came to a stop beside a frail looking man, glancing around the crowd for the sign of his pet. He caught sight of him, practically being clutched inside a jerk guard's arms and he felt angry at how the guard was holding him.
"Excuse me sir," he muttered as he stepped around the man to make his way to the guard practically crushing Mochi to the point that the animal was mewling in pain, trying to claw his way free.
"Stupid animal," the guard growled as he readjusted his grip, "I should just snap your pathetic neck right here."
Something in his eyes set Hiro off to the fact that he would probably do just that.
He felt panic surge through him suddenly, the ground quivering under his feet ever-so-slightly and everyone froze. It was just enough incentive for Mochi to finally break free and Hiro was quick to intercept the animal.
He scooped him up inside protective arms, clutching him tightly as he shushed it, scratching him behind the ears. Thankfully, Mochi stopped fighting him and he was able to slink back in the crowd of people as everyone looked around for signs of a Bender.
"Who was that?" one of the guards finally demanded, voice raised in agitation and when no one rose their voice to admit to it he reached out and jerked the closest person he could- a woman not much older than Cass had been.
She was tossed to the ground as he reared back to kick her in the side. She cried out in pain, voice shrill as Hiro felt something uncomfortable slither down his spine at the cruelty.
"Better admit to it someone!" the guard bellowed as he repeated striking her with his boot relentlessly, "Or I'll kill her!"
Hiro swallowed, feeling sick again and this time the ground seemed to cave in with the quacking. The guard stumbled, suddenly imbalanced and the woman scrambled back in the crowd where she was drawn in protectively.
"Who is that?" another guard demanded as the one that had been beating the woman climbed to his feet, eyes wild with rage.
Hiro knew that he should probably find a way to escape but several guards were circled around them now as they searched for the culprit, as they searched for him.
Mochi made a small sound and Hiro curled in himself as he urged the cat to silence. He straightened back up immediately, trying to see if anyone had overheard that. Unfortunately, they had.
"Hey! You!" a guard snapped, already making his way towards him and he didn't bother thinking anymore as he took off in the opposite direction.
"We've got a runner!" someone shouted from behind and he didn't slow as he sprinted down the streets, clutching Mochi in a tight grasp, before he spun and veered down an alley where he circled back to where he had left Baymax, who was still standing faithfully under the window.
"Baymax," Hiro gasped in relief upon seeing him as he slowed down enough to jerk him with one of his hands, the other still gripping onto a terrified Mochi tightly, "Come on. We're leaving."
Baymax didn't protest and he didn't question him about what happened as he followed him down the back alleys, pressed against the Wall and backside of buildings. Behind him there was no signs of any guards, though they were obviously organizing a search for him on the streets. He wondered if they even knew who they were searching for.
They managed to make it back to the alley the others had left them in, though Hiro was reluctant to stay because guards were running around everywhere now. It was only a matter of time before they searched where they were hiding and caught him.
Mochi made a soft noise and Hiro wondered if the cat was trying to give them away as he bent over to hush the creature. Baymax blinked at him, seeming to focus on the bundle grasped tightly in Hiro's arms.
"We can't stay here," Hiro hissed as he adjusted his grip on Mochi, eyes focusing on the guards still searching the streets for him, "Baymax, can you keep up?"
"I am not fast," the robot repeated and Hiro resisted the urge to groan and roll his eyes because he already knew that.
"Okay, new plan," Hiro muttered as he tried coming up with an idea- any at all- that wouldn't end them all getting caught.
Mochi meowed, reminding everyone of his presence as he shifted in Hiro's grasp. He was growing restless, begging for attention Hiro couldn't afford to spare- not if they all wanted to survive till the end of the day.
"Here Baymax, hold him for a second," Hiro commanded, practically shoving the cat into the robot's arms.
Mochi mewled again, rubbing his fast against Baymax's plush stomach. He was purring, Hiro able to hear it from where he stood several feet away.
"Hairy baby," Baymax said as he pet Mochi's head, "Hairy baby."
"What? No. He's not a baby," Hiro explained as he wondered how long he's been trapped in the alley, "He's a cat. Not a baby. Cat."
"Cat," Baymax repeated and Hiro nodded as he patted his friend on his arm.
"There you go, buddy," Hiro praised before someone shouted towards the end of the alley, drawing his attention back to the entrance.
They were in the very back, unseen from where the guard was currently standing but if he ventured in further towards them then he'd notice them and it'll all be over. Hiro's chest tightened at that thought, his breathe quickening as he realized they were running out of time.
Come on, Hiro, think of something, he thought in frustration as he squeezed his eyes shut and banged his fists against his skull, Stupid useless brain. Think.
He opened his eyes, looking down at his worn shoes as helplessness started to overwhelm him when he blinked curling his head as the pretense of a plan started in the back of his brain. They didn't have time for him to thoroughly think of the plan, though, and he glanced back at the guard who had slowly started creeping in towards them.
"Baymax," Hiro whispered as he moved close enough to touch the robot, "Grab onto me and don't let go. Whatever you do, don't let go."
Baymax didn't reply though his hand did grab onto his shoulder and Hiro took a calming breath, hands stretched towards the ground under their feet as he willed it apart. At first nothing happened, Hiro's head pulsing as he fought against the stubborn earth for some sort of leverage.
Earth bending had always been Hiro's least favorite bending style, as it seemed to be the only element that was alive. It was a constant struggle, fighting over dominance, and he felt it start to tremor under his shoes as he sought out the more natural elements combined with the fake stuff the Empire mixed in to make Earth bending close to impossible.
Something popped in the back of his head, blood flowing out from his nose but all he could do was grin as he was finally able to find what he had been looking for, wasting no time morphing it to his will.
"Hiro, you appear to be bleeding," Baymax fussed, still holding onto him.
Hiro didn't reply as he forced himself to focus, the dull ache in his head throbbing from somewhere in the back of his mind as he moved the ground under his command.
It opened, slowly, moving smoothly like a liquid and he felt himself sink before he felt safe enough to close the hole above them. Darkness enveloped them immediately, the only thing keeping the dirt from pouring in their hole was Hiro. Both his arms were stretched at his sides, keeping the small pocket he created from collapsing.
Then all they had to do was wait.
He doesn't know how long they stayed down there in the darkness as occasional footsteps echoed above them. Hiro suspected that they were tearing the city apart looking for him and briefly wished the others had found cover.
"Hiro, your nose does not seem to be clotting," Baymax informed and Hiro brushed away his concern.
"I'm fine," he promised pushing a little harder at the dirt trying to close in around them, "I just pushed myself some."
He knew it was more than some- just like he knew if he had practiced more on Earth bending there wouldn't be much of a problem. He wasn't used to extending this much power at once, and it was making him feel weak, disoriented and the only thing keeping him from collapsing into exhaustion was the adrenaline still thrumming through his body.
Eventually, the footsteps and voices faded and he waited several more tense minutes before allowing them to rise back up, the ground spitting them back in the alley before knitting back together and he was too weak to remain standing upright anymore.
He collapsed, ground scraping his knees and palms as several dots of blood dripped from his mouth to land on the ground beneath him. The sight of it reminded him of his dizziness and he suckered in a breath before maneuvering himself so he was sitting slouched over.
"Your body is showing extreme signs of fatigue," Baymax offered as he offered himself as a backrest.
Hiro leaned into him thankfully, feeling incredibly tired now as he blinked up at the darkening sky. All around him, the city was quieting down and soon the guards will have to admit that they allowed him to escape.
That thought brought a smile to his face as his head lolled tiredly back in Baymax's side.
"Hiro?" Baymax asked but if there was more, Hiro didn't hear it.
His eyes slipped closed, and he drifted to sleep.
That night, he dreamt in black and white.
It was strange, especially considering he's never thought before rather or not his dreams had color. He figured that they must have because it was almost disorienting how all the color seemed to be leached out from the world, living behind dull undertones.
He also felt like he was floating, which was even stranger because all around him everything looked solid: the walls, floors and even the cobwebs hidden up in the darkest corners. Solid, all of it, except for him.
"Weird," he murmured and his voice came out a little wispier than before as he glanced at his hands and nearly cried out in shock at the sight.
They were pale, a duller color than before, and they didn't look stable. Instead, they seemed to waver in and out of focus like the ghost people in the movies Aunt Cass would force him and Tadashi to watch when they were younger.
He wasn't a ghost, though, because he hadn't died.
At least, he couldn't remember dying.
"If I'm dead," Hiro muttered under his breath as he focused up at the empty hallways stretching on either side of him, "then the afterlife is boring."
He didn't really know where he was at, though, so he picked a direction and started down it and though he was physically moving his body like he normally would whenever he walked that wasn't what was really happening.
It was more like gliding, but with two legs that took normal steps. His feet never made any noise and the movements seemed too graceful for him. And the hallway seemed to just stretch further and further in front of him, like it never ended and he was tempted to turn around when something jerked at his chest.
It didn't hurt. It just felt an invisible string had wrapped itself somewhere inside of him and had been lax until then. Now it seemed like someone was jerking on it, beckoning him further down the hall.
He frowned because there was no way that was normal, but since he was who he was and that he figured that if he was dead then the situation couldn't get any worst, he followed the feeling. He followed it down the plain hallway, stopping when it seemed to turn somewhere behind the wall.
No, not a wall he realized as he narrowed his focus on it.
It was a door, as plain and gray as everything else around him.
He reached out, expecting his fingers to brush against cold metal and actually cried out in shock when he didn't. His fingers went through it instead, leaving an aching cold feeling, as he screamed and jerked his hand back against his chest as he stumbled several feet away.
That wasn't normal, and it didn't matter if this was a dream or if he was dead because then the walls should've offered some sort of resistance.
"Where am I?" he asked, out loud because he figured he must be going insane so he might as well.
As expected, no one answered.
The string in his chest did give a slight tug, though, urging him forward which was insane because then he'd have to go through the door.
"Nuh huh," he denied shaking his head and still glaring at the door like it would suddenly reach out and bite him, "I am not walking through walls. I don't care what kind of freaky dream this is."
The string jerked again, this time making him wince as it seemed to try and force him through the object. Hiro growled somewhere in the back of his throat before clenching his eyes together tightly, sucking in a deep breath, and stepped through.
There was a slight chill before he opened his eyes and realized he was in a windowless room, tiny in comparison to everything he's seen before. It was bare, though, allowing some space. The only thing in it seemed to be the figure chained to the floor.
Hiro blinked in surprise.
The figure was hunched over and shirtless, his muscles on his back tense, and unkempt black hair dangled from his head blocked his features from Hiro's view. It didn't matter though, Hiro would've recognized him anywhere.
"Tadashi?" he asked chest tight because if he was dead then that would mean his brother was too.
Tadashi didn't move, didn't make any indication like he had heard him, and Hiro figured that he wasn't dead- just crazy. He must have lost it somewhere after the Empire took his whole family from him, leaving him feeling so cold and lonely even though he knew he still wasn't technically alone.
"Tadashi?" he repeated, rushing over to touch his brother's shoulder.
His fingers passed through flesh, Hiro jerking away by how wrong that felt, and Tadashi glanced up. His brown eyes still seemed bright as he narrowed them and glanced around the barren cell. Hiro shivered when his brother's gaze passed over him.
"Tadashi," he said quickly though he knew that his brother wasn't able to hear him, "Stay alive. I'm coming for you, just stay alive."
Then the dream ended, his vision blackening as something seemed to snap in his back and he woke back in the alley with Baymax.