A/N
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It was a lot of fun seeing reactions to Mr. Lee's appearance. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter.
The next morning, Tadashi woke up feeling like a dark cloud was hovering over him. He really didn't want to wake up and face the fact that his brother was going to be taken away from him forever. He glanced down at Hiro who was tightly clutching Tadashi, dried tear stains on his face. A part of him just wanted to stay in bed and never move again, but he also knew Hiro needed to eat.
"Hey buddy. You gotta wake up…" Tadashi said, gently shaking Hiro who grumbled and snuggled closer to Tadashi. "Hiro please…"
"No….I wake up and then I leave. So no waking up." Hiro mumbled. Tadashi let out a miserable groan and said,
"I'm sorry but… it…we can't do that…" Tadashi picked up Hiro and carried him down the stairs, Hiro stubbornly trying to act like he was asleep, trying to pretend this wasn't happening. He desperately wanted to do the same, but he couldn't. Tadashi walked into the kitchen and set Hiro in a chair, feeling exhausted even though he only just woke up. Though he knew they needed to eat, the thought of food made Tadashi nauseous so he decided toast would work for their breakfast and got a couple of slices of bread toasting.
"I don't want to go…" Hiro whimpered after several minutes of silence.
"I don't want you to go either…" Tadashi agreed.
"Let's run away!" Hiro exclaimed.
"What?" Tadashi shouted.
"If we run away they can't make me leave!" Hiro said, eyes lighting up. "We can stay together then!" For a moment, Tadashi wanted to do just that. Pack up some key essentials and run. They would be together and they could be happy. Tadashi immediately rejected the thought though. If they did that they would eventually get caught and Tadashi would go to prison and he wouldn't have a chance of ever seeing Hiro.
"I'm sorry Hiro w-we can't…"
"Why not?" Hiro demanded.
"The police will look for us, especially since they will see it as me kidnapping you," Tadashi explained.
"Well that's stupid!" Hiro shouted. "I wanna be with my Dashi!"
"I want you to buddy but I-I failed an-" Tadashi began but Hiro snapped,
"I won't go! I'll run away!"
"Hiro…I…" Before Tadashi can formulate a response to Hiro's declaration, someone loudly knocked on the door. Tadashi had hoped Fred would get here first, but he knew how Fred usually knocked, and that was nothing like it. Reluctantly Tadashi opened the door to reveal Bubbles.
Bubbles slowly pulled of his sun glasses and said, "I'm sorry I have to do this…but since you don't have a job…"
"Please," Tadashi begged. "Just…I just need a little more time!"
"I can't give you that," Bubbles countered.
"I can't lose my brother too!"
"He needs a home that can care for him and provide him with what he needs!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"And I can do that if I just could get a little more time to find work!" Tadashi argued.
"I'm sorry but I can't do anything!" Bubbles snapped, walking inside the house. "Where is he?"
"In the kitchen…" Tadashi sighed, defeated. He tried to follow, but his feet remained frozen in the spot, unable to accept that his brother was being taken away…
"Hey! Get back here!" Bubbles roared, snapping Tadashi out of his thoughts. He ran into the kitchen and asked,
"What's wrong?"
"He climbed out the window!" Bubbles snapped, shoving past Tadashi and racing outside. Shocked, Tadashi ran after Bubbles and started looking around the house.
"Hiro! Hiro please come back!" Tadashi shouted. Frantically looking around trying to spot his brother. He caught a flash of something and spotted his brother running across the street before freezing when he saw a car. Horrified, Tadashi ran onto the street shouting, "Hiro!" grabbing Hiro and flinging himself onto the other side of the road as the car screeched to a halt.
"Let me go!" Hiro cried, trying to rip himself from Tadashi's grip.
"No!" Tadashi snapped. "Are you hurt?"
"No!" Hiro shouted, trying to yank himself away.
"Hiro you could have been killed! Why would you run out into the road?" Tadashi snapped.
"Tadashi! Hiro! Are you guys okay?" A familiar voice shouted. Keeping a firm grip on Hiro, Tadashi looked over at the car and saw Fred climbing out of it.
"Yea we're fine…" Tadashi sighed, standing up and picking Hiro up with him. Hiro continued to thrash but Tadashi refused to let him go. "Hiro stop it!"
"So you want me to go?" Hiro whimpered.
"No! Never! But you can't run away," Tadashi mumbled.
"Hiro are you alright?" Bubbles asked, walking over to the group and kneeling down next to him.
"I won't go with you!" Hiro snapped, continuing to struggle.
"Hold it, hold it!" Another man declared, climbing out of the car Fred had just exited. "Mr. uh?"
"Bubbles," Bubbles said. "Who are you exactly?"
"Stan Lee," Mr. Lee explained. Lee…wait was this Fred's father?
"My dad," Fred whispered. Tadashi was about to ask why he was their when Mr. Lee said,
"So you say this young man needs a job to keep guardianship of his brother?" Mr. Lee asked.
"Yes," Bubbles said. "Unless you can offer him a job no-"
"I was just about do exactly that!" Mr. Lee declared. "Tadashi would you like to be hired as my onsite repair man? You will be given a room in my mansion and would be responsible for repairing anything that is broken around the mansion, cars, pluming electric, whatever you can fix."
"Are you kidding me!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Why would I kid about this? My home needs a lot of repairs. He'll have plenty of work for him." Mr. Lee declared.
"Enough to hire someone to live in your house and make enough to support a child?" Bubbles snapped.
"Definitely," Mr. Lee assured, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out and handing it to Bubbles. Bubbles inspected the object, his frown deepening.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Bubbles groaned after a minute.
"I don't see how you didn't recognize me!" Mr. Lee teased.
"Are you saying you're going to trust a stranger with this?" Bubbles hissed.
"Eventually," Mr. Lee calmly said. "I do have a lot of things that seem to need repairs pretty regularly and it is a pain to get a repair person to the mansion who won't try…things."
"Things?" Tadashi whispered to Fred who shrugged, looking just as baffled as Tadashi was.
Bubbled looked conflicted by the new information. He stared at the object for another minute before asking "You sure about this?"
"Yes." Mr. Lee assured.
"Alright," Bubbles sighed, returning the object. "Alright I'll need to check by in a couple of weeks to check on this job and make sure Tadashi can care for Hiro."
"Sounds fair to me." Mr. Lee agreed. "So what do you say Tadashi, do you accept my offer?"
"I uh…" Tadashi stammered brain not quiet processing what he was hearing. "Yes! Of course I mean…thank you Mr. Lee!"
"My pleasure! I have high expectations of you!" Mr. Lee exclaimed, holding out his hand for Tadashi to take, which he did.
"Do I have to go?" Hiro tentatively asked.
"Sort of…you and I will be living with Fred together!" Tadashi explained, hugging Hiro tightly.
"Really!" Hiro exclaimed, breaking out into a large grin.
"Yep!" Fred assured, excitedly ruffling his hair.
"You two better get packing," Mr. Lee said. "I'd like you moved in as soon as possible."
"I-I'm working on selling the house but I can pack up now." Tadashi offered.
"Sounds perfect!"
The next several hours passed in a daze for Tadashi. Mr. Lee left to take care of business and left Fred to help with packing. He went over to Hiro's room to help Hiro pack while Tadashi worked on his own. Tadashi knew this needed to be done, but it hurt having to pack up his things and leave his home forever. He felt like he was throwing away a piece of his parents.
Now that he was packing to leave, Tadashi found himself desperately wishing he didn't have to go. This was his home! Sure they hadn't been here long but it held so many memories that Tadashi couldn't stand to lose. Could he really just abandon the last connection he had to his parents? If he wanted to keep Hiro he did, and Hiro was worth it. With that thought firmly in mind Tadashi got back to work.
So much would have to be left behind, Tadashi knew he couldn't bring any of the furniture and most of his parents things couldn't be brought either. All he could see bringing was his and Hiro's things and family photos. It wouldn't be right to bring anything else since they were going to be living in someone else's home. He'd have to deal with everything else later.
Once both Hiro and Tadashi's rooms where packed, he realized their where probably too many boxes for the car, until they walked outside and found Heathcliff had somehow acquired a van.
"How much do I owe you for the van?" Tadashi asked as they packed up the van.
"Mr. Lee has taken care of it." Heathcliff assured, confusing Tadashi.
"He's already done so much I can't-"
"He said, since he is having you relocate, he would pay for any fee's involved in that process." . But that made no sense to Tadashi, he would have been evicted anyways. Smiling, Heathcliff added, "He also mentioned something about helping out his future son in law." That clarified things…sort of…
"Son in….you told him about us?" Tadashi hissed at Fred, who froze halfway in the back of the truck.
"I-uh…it kind of slipped out….sorry…" Fred mumbled embarrassed. Smiling Tadashi admitted,
"It's okay… I…I wish I could have told….told them…" Tadashi's smile disappeared as he thought about them. Would they have accepted his relationship with Fred? Would they have thrown him out? Now he'd never know. "I'm glad your dad knows, I…yea…" Tadashi mumbled, going back to packing and trying desperately not to think about his parents, something much easier said than done. Thankfully Fred did not try and bring the subject up again and simply went back to packing boxes. Though they only brought Tadashi and Hiro's things, all their boxes practically filled the van save for the driver's seat and one other seat they managed to keep clear.
"Mr. Hamada. If I remember correctly, you drive a moped?" Heathcliff asked once the van was packed.
"Yea…" Tadashi sheepishly admitted.
"I do have a car seat set up for Hiro and Master Fredrick could ride with you." Heathcliff said. Tadashi wasn't sure how he felt about Hiro getting into the front seat of a car without Tadashi there, but he realized they didn't have a lot of options unless they wanted to make multiple trips and Tadashi did not think he was in a position to ask for something like that of the butler, he'd done so much already…
"Uh…yea that's fine…I-uh drive safe?" Tadashi blushed the moment the words left his mouth, realizing how rude it sounded. Heathcliff didn't seem to offended however and said,
"Of course," Seemingly understanding what Tadashi meant by that. Tadashi kneeled down to Hiro's level and said,
"Okay buddy, you're going to ride with Heathcliff and Fred and I will meet you at Fred's house okay? Now be good and don't bother Heathcliff." Tadashi sternly said, trying to keep himself calm. Hiro would be fine. Heathcliff was a careful driver, he was probably more careful then Wasabi at times. They'd be fine. He needed to stop worrying or he'd get into an accident.
"I'll be good Dashi!" Hiro assured, kissing Tadashi's cheek. Smiling, Tadashi picked Hiro up and got him buckled in before heading over to his moped and pulling out two helmets and handing the better one to Fred. The pair got settled on Tadashi's moped and they were off.
"Relax, Heathcliff will keep him safe," Fred assured as they closely followed the van through the streets.
"I know…" Tadashi groaned, trying to focus on keeping himself and Fred safe. He couldn't keep worrying about them while driving. They would be fine. Fred's tight grip around him was helping him not think about Hiro and Heathcliff but was not helping him focus on the road.
"Relax!" Fred added, hugging Tadashi tighter.
"Why do I get the feeling you purposefully did all of this so you could hold me for twenty minutes uninterrupted?" Tadashi playfully asked as they pulled to a stop at a red light behind the van, Hiro once again excitedly waving at them as best he could from the van. Smiling, Tadashi gave a small wave back as Fred said,
"What. Pssh, why would you think something like that? Totally ridiculous," Fred said, burying his face in Tadashi's shoulder.
"No idea," Tadashi deadpanned as they drove off again. Thankfully Fred didn't try anything for the rest of the drive and they pulled in after the van, everyone safe and sound. Tadashi hurriedly turned off the moped and ran over to the van as Heathcliff got out and unbuckled Hiro.
"Dashi! Dashi! Did you see me wave?" Hiro asked as Heathcliff carefully set Hiro on the ground.
"Yea I did," Tadashi said, grinning. "Did he behave?"
"He was wonderful," Heathcliff assured, smiling fondly at Hiro.
"Good…I guess I should get this van unpacked."
"Hey I'll help!" Fred assured.
"I would be more than happy to assist as well," Heathcliff added, opening the van and grabbing a box.
"You don't have to do that!" Tadashi hurriedly said.
"Hey we want to!" Fred declared, grabbing one as well. Sighing in defeat, Tadashi grabbed a box as well and headed inside, awkwardly following Fred and Heathcliff through the mansion, glancing down and noticing Hiro carrying a box as well.
"Need some help buddy?"
"Nope I got it!" Hiro assured, slightly breathless.
"Here we are Mr. Hamada," Heathcliff said reaching a door not far from Fred's room. "I apologize but you and your brother will be sharing a room."
"Oh that's fine, just letting us stay here is more than enough." Tadashi assured. Smiling, Heathcliff opened the door to the room and walked in. When Tadashi walked inside he let out a small gasp. The room was only slightly smaller than Fred's room and also had a T.V. a large closet two beds and a door that Tadashi thought led to a bathroom.
"Like it?" Fred teasingly asked as he set a box down.
"I…this is too much!" Tadashi exclaimed. "I mean, this room is really nice and-"
"It's only bigger than the other workers rooms because you have a roommate!" Fred assured. "And you know, there are T.V's everywhere in this house and-"
"I…are you sure this is okay? I don't want to impose…"
"Master Stan specifically had this room prepared for you and your brother." Heathcliff assured. Tadashi realized that this must have been what he had gone to take care of earlier. It didn't make Tadashi feel too much better though.
"I feel like I'm more of a burden then a worker…" Tadashi admitted.
"We like to treat our people well," Fred said, starting towards the door. "Now let's get the van unpacked!" It only took them three trips to get all the boxes in the room and once done, Tadashi wondered if there was a way to get a little alone time with Fred. Tadashi collapsed on the closest bed followed closely by Fred who whispered,
"Hey, you want some alone time?"
"If you'll stay yes," Tadashi returned. Smiling Fred turned to Heathcliff and said,
"Hey Heathcliff, would you mind taking Hiro down to get some food? I can hear his stomach from here!" A knowing smile on his face Heathcliff said,
"Of course, come along." Reaching down for Hiro's hand, who excitedly took it and followed along, firing question after question at the butler. Tadashi smiled at the pair as they left, hardly able to believe that he would be keeping Hiro. For now at least, but at least now he had hope, thanks to Fred.
"Fred I…I don't know how I can even begin to thank you." Tadashi whispered, tightly holding Fred's hand.
"I didn't do anything, I just told my dad what was going on," Fred said, shrugging.
"If you hadn't Hiro would be gone," Tadashi argued. Fred shrugged again and mumbled,
"You would have found a way…" Unable to help himself, Tadashi pulled Fred into a deep kiss, deciding it was better to simply kiss him senseless. Fred broke the kiss saying,
"No seriously I did-" Tadashi pressed his lips against Fred's cutting him off. Tadashi's hands slipped around Fred's waist and pulled him onto Tadashi's lap as Fred wrapped his arms around Tadashi's neck. This was much better then arguing.