Chapter Summary: Another side of the story, revealing what has been going with Abigail and Hiro during the weeks after the fire.

Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 and its characters.

Days passed, Hiro Hamada continued living inside the cold facility of Akuma Island ever since Abigail Callaghan brought him here after he was forced to help her build more microbots. Secretly, he was glad of the change of scenery; he had been trapped inside an abandoned building for weeks and no matter how many times he tried to escaped, Abigail had the microbots catch him every time.

Flashback.

When Hiro first woke up the day after the exhibition hall at SFIT was burned down, he found himself inside the home of Professor Callaghan, miraculously spared from the fire that destroyed the showcase. He was laying down on the couch and his head felt heavy and sore, as though he had been knocked out. Abigail had tended his injury the best she can but Hiro noticed how exhausted and lifeless her face appeared. At first, he didn't know who she but he remembered seeing her standing next to Callaghan while the showcase burned around them. He was even surprised to learn she was the professor's daughter.

"He talked about you once..." Hiro weakly told her as Abigail carefully unwrapped the bandages around his head.

Abigail didn't reply; she stood up so she can dump the bandages in a nearby trashcan. Hiro noticed she was wearing the neurotransmitter headband and he remembered the microbots.

"Why did you have that?" he asked, frowning. "I built that... m-my microbots where are they?"

Once again, he received no answer. Abigail was facing away from.

Hiro jogged his memory while his head gingerly touched his tender head. He then recalled the reason he ran into the exhibition hall. He immediately shot up in fear.

"Tadashi!" he cried. "Where's my big brother? I was supposed to find him!"

Abigail finally spoke in a dead tone, "He probably died in the explosion along with my father." Then she suddenly tossed a familiar baseball cap at Hiro's lap. "You were holding that so I brought it along."

"Explosion? I don't understand..." Hiro asked, slowly shaking his head in confusion. He stared his brother's hat and he found himself ready to break at any moment. "T-Tadashi wanted to save Callaghan. He... he should have lived."

"That was his mistake," Abigail said coldly.

Hiro snapped. He made an angry cry and threw himself at her. However, he was suddenly pulled back by the microbots that had been hiding behind the couch the entire time. He continued to glare at the woman.

"Take that back!" he shouted as tears roll down his face. He saw his brother's face in his mind's eye and he remembered his last words; how Tadashi put the safety of others before him, and was willing to help them. And to see this woman insulting Tadashi like that...

Abigail stared at him with a strange smile on her lips.

"I too lost someone important to me, so I understand your pain," she said. "Unfortunately, I can't let you go since you saw my dad trying to steal your invention."

"You mean he was the one who started the fire?!" Hiro gasped. "Why would he want them?"

"I really don't know the answer, but I think I found a good use for your microbots," Abigail said with a shrug. Then she kneel in front of Hiro. "And here's another thing, you can't go home again since the whole city believes you perished in the fire. You might as well start a new life with me."

"I'd rather end your life," Hiro growled, trying to free himself from the microbots' grip.

Abigail wasn't intimidated.

"Why don't we make a deal?" she suggested, standing up. "You help me, and when the time comes right, I'll let you go and you return home to your remaining family."

"Like I'd help you!" Hiro spat. "Your dad killed my brother!"

"You don't have any other choice, Hiro Hamada. You're going to help me build more of these microbots, unless..." Then her lips formed a dark smile. "Something bad happens to your aunt and friends too."

Hiro stopped and became terrified. "You can't-" he begged in a tiny voice. "Please, don't hurt Aunt Cass. And my friends."

"I won't lay a finger on them unless you agree to my offer," Abigail said. She placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder and forced him to look at her. "What's your answer, Hiro?"

Hiro was then transferred to an abandoned warehouse near the piers and he spent the next several weeks building microbots for Abigail. It was a slow and difficult process at first because he didn't have the notes of his invention's schematics, and they were all in saved in his computers back at his home. Fortunately, he remembered some of the details of the tech and he was brilliant enough to explain them to Abigail about how the microbots were built and function. Even Abigail had managed to kidnap Krei's secretary when the woman paid a visit to Callaghan's funeral. Candace the secretary was willing to provide Abigail and Hiro the materials needed to create the microbots as long her life was spared.

"I might still need you for further uses," Abigail told her while Hiro tried to work on the complicated 3D printer machine that would print out the microbots. "I'm going to need you to provide me some valuable information. Nothing like money though. Just some papers and blueprints about Project Silent Sparrow."

"Why do you want them?" Krei's secretary asked. "That project has been abandoned ever since the accident at Akuma Island. And getting those kind of files won't be easy."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Abigail waved a hand. "You're close to Alistair, I'm sure you'll know how to get them without letting him know."

"You and your father have been very distant to him after all the trouble he went to rescue you from the portal," Candace said, narrowing her eyes behind her glasses.

"He only cared about himself," Abigail sneered. She remembered her father's about him months ago. "He abandoned me since I was just a setback to him."

"Abigail-"

"Unless you want to personally get to know my microbots..." At this moment, the microbots creepily crawl around the secretary's feet. "... I suggest you follow my orders."

Krei's secretary gulped in fear, but she stood tall.

"I'll be helping you," she said. "But only because you're still my friend. But on one condition... Leave Alistair out of this."

Abigail chuckled, "Calm down, I'm not going after him."

Hiro was listening to their conversation and he grimly knew, through the tone of her voice, Abigail was lying.

"Now, about the names of those people who are responsible for bringing me back..."

"So, we got ourselves an intruder?" Hiro asked in a bored voice. He was sitting in front of a computer inside a small room with no exits for him to escape.

Abigail had showed up in his room, wearing her new attire: dark clothes with a Kabuki mask on her hand. Hiro could see the outline of the neurotransmitter headband inside the mask.

"He and his friend got away from me before I can catch him," she said. She looked livid. "I don't know how he managed to do it, but he shut down the machine."

"Oooh, that means no more microbots being built then," Hiro said, a hint of sass in his tone.

"You're going to fix it immediately!" Abigail snarled at him.

Krei's secretary stepped forward. "Calm down, Abigail. There are more important issues at hand, that boy could have seen or heard us what we're doing. He might even go to the police."

"The police won't believe him," Abigail snorted. She crossed her arms and think carefully. "Though we might have to move somewhere else just to be safe. And we can't use my home."

Hiro lowered Tadashi's baseball cap on his head so his eyes doesn't meet hers.

"Here's my suggestion: give yourself up," he said.

"You little-!" Abigail was about to smack him but Krei's secretary stopped her. As she was pushed outside the room, Abigail made one dirty remark she knows will hurt Hiro. "It's a good thing your brother died, because he won't come to rescue you!"

Hiro's head snapped up, rage and pain flashed in his eyes. He stood up and slammed door at Abigail's face but she didn't care. Sooner or later, she's going to make him fix the machine whether he wants to or not. She then locked his door and walked away, her nostrils flared.

Inside the room, Hiro curled up on his cot and tried in vain to suppress his sobs. Though tears began rolling down his face as he clutched his brother's hat close to him as though he was afraid of losing it.

"Tadashi..." he whimpered as he continued to cry alone.

"That was uncalled for," Krei's secretary said while she kept up with Abigail. "While I'm surprised that Tadashi Hamada is actually alive, Hiro still believes he died. And we need to keep it that way if we don't want him to rebel against us."

Abigail placed the Kabuki mask on her face and snatched the files from Candace's hands. "Are these all the files and blueprints of the portals?" she asked.

"Yes, including the third one at the old Krei Tech laboratory further down from here," Candace answered. "We could transfer the machine, the experts you've kidnapped, and other evidence over there for now if we act quickly."

"I was thinking of somewhere else..." Abigail muttered. Building a new portal from scratch won't be easy, but it is possible to fix a broken one in a place where she'd be less likely to get caught. And there're convenient portals at a certain island which she hasn't seen for a while.

When she finally got enough microbots built, Abigail carried her prisoners all the way to Akuma Island and locked them inside separate steel rooms, one for Hiro and one for the Krei Tech engineers and technicians. She was in a bad mood. She had to chase a group of meddling college kids, one of them being Hiro's brother, through the streets of San Fransokyo before their van sunk into the dark, cold waters of the bay. She was almost worried these kids may have seen her hideout, but she felt confident that they drowned and her secret kept safe.

Yet, she lashed out her frustrations on the engineers by making them work on the portal which her pod had entered and got lost inside during the transportation testing. While she no longer gets nightmares of her experience being trapped inside the portal dimension, she still shivered with discomfort whenever her mind brought it up. The engineers managed to get it functioning again but they had to keep it shut off at all times before it starts sucking everything in before imploding.

Abigail was pleased with this. She could use the portal to destroy Krei and his work after all the things he had done to her. This was her father's plan.

She had discovered what her father had been doing down in the basement when she returned home on the night he died. On the walls were plans, detailing what his revenge should go but for some reason it fell short since he seemed to be lacking a certain key to make his scheme come to fruition. Still, she learned that Callaghan wanted to give Alistair Krei a taste of his own medicine for putting her in danger and ruining her life.

Her father was willing to endanger a man's life, just for her sake. Abigail knew her old self wouldn't approve but that brave, innocent pilot was gone; she would Krei pay for his arrogance.

Abigail usually left the island on some days to get rid of evidence of her crimes and her old life. One night, she decided to stop by the old Krei Tech lab where the third portal was secretly build to rescue her. There inside the old room, she found something sitting on the floor and propped up against the third portal that had caught her by surprise. It was a marshmallow-like robot, similar to the one Tadashi Hamada had with him on the day the two intruded into the warehouse. The only difference was it wearing broken pieces of armor and it was deactivated. She was shocked and curious where it came from, and why it was doing here inside the lab.

She found the video of the security cameras that were recorded during the time she was saved. She watched her screaming and crying self being carried out of the room and just seconds afterwards, one of the engineers alerted Krei that something else was coming through the portal. Then she saw that robot's lifeless body flying into the room before the video ended right there.

"Why would Alistair leave this robot behind?" she wondered out loud as she approached the soft robot. "Surely he'd be interested to know where it come from... And why did it look like that one robot that's with that Hamada boy?"

She cautiously tap the head and vinyl body, trying to activate it. Her finger randomly pressed the chest hard when something happened. She stared in disbelief as video screen began to display on the robot's stomach. She watched the footage for a couple of minutes before she suddenly punched the robot's chest. The display screen came to an abrupt stop before shutting off.

Abigail's heart was hammering and she was seething in anger, but there were tears in her eyes.

She decided to add some new changes to her father's plan.

Abigail dismantled some parts from the portal, though she left the ring structure alone. As for the mysterious robot, she moved it back to her original hideout so she can retrieve it later.

Who knows? she thought. It might have some useful purposes for me one day.

Back in her old house, Abigail checked through her dad's laptop which he used to write in his research when he worked on Project Silent Sparrow. She found what was looking for relating the portals of Project Silent Sparrow. To her annoyance, it was written in Japanese and it her a while to decipher it; when she finished reading it, she finally found a spark that would bring her life back.

She returned to Akuma Island immediately. Giving them a brief explanation of her new plan, Abigail used the microbots to take down the working portal much to the confusion to the horrified engineers and technicians. Then with the parts from both the first and third portal, began to build a fourth portal.

"Miss Callaghan, please! This idea is impossible!" one of the experts cried. "Mr. Krei couldn't even achieve it so he had to settle for instant teleportation!"

"Alistair also said that teleportation was impossible and science fiction, but he made it happen," Abigail said slowly, giving them a death glare. Then within minutes, she finally set up a new portal. She couldn't have done it without Hiro's invention. "You make sure this works properly."

Then she left the lab without another word.

"You ungrateful little brat!" Abigail snarled as she the microbots pulled Hiro out from one vents leading to outside the facility. This was the third time this week Hiro made attempts to escape. While it's futile to leave the island without some mode of transportation, Abigail was losing patience with the young genius.

She raised him up high by his legs, letting him helplessly dangle upside-down.

"I spared your life and gave you a new purpose, and this how you repay me!" she shouted at him. However, Hiro glared at her in defiance.

"I refuse to build more microbots for you!" he shouted back. "I didn't invent them so you could abuse them! Tadashi inspired me to make them!"

"Tadashi this, Tadashi that- I'm sick of you talking about him!"

Abigail threw Hiro aside and he slid against the floor until he smack hard against a wall. He groaned in pain. He noticed his brother's cap had fallen off from his head and before he could reach for it, Abigail snatched it.

"G-give that back, it's all what I had left of him!" Hiro begged. He looked so desperate and it amused Abigail.

"I don't think so, I'll just keep this close to me to keep it safe," she said.

Hiro jumped to his feet and tried to grab the hat back.

"Give it back to me! Give me back my brother!" Hiro screamed.

His last words struck a nerve. Abigail slapped him and he fell back, his cheek stinging with pain. Then she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and forced him to look at her.

"You'll continue to do what I say or you'll never get your brother's hat again," she threatened him.

Hiro shuddered but he swallowed his pride. He'll behave like a good boy but he's already making plans to stop her. When he returned to his room, Hiro secretly began to make a small neurotransmitter headpiece that would be an advantage against Abigail's microbots.

"You were cruel to that boy," Krei's secretary told Abigail over the phone. The latter was in the basement of her home, cleaning up all remaining evidence of her dad's schemes before she leaves the house forever.

"He deserved it, for being a whiny baby," Abigail said.

Ever since the night of the fire, she had been slightly jealous that Hiro's brother managed to survive one time while her father could not. It felt unfair to her and she couldn't help feeling vindictive towards the young Hamada boy.

"The both of you lost someone important, surely you could understand his pain a little?" the secretary said.

"Just because we have something in common doesn't mean we're going to be friends," Abigail snapped. "Once my plan is finished, I have no further use for him. He'll go back to his family."

"I'm surprised you're willing to keep that promise for him."

"I am a woman of my own word," Abigail said darkly. Then she decided to change the subject. "By the way, did you have any information about Tadashi's robot invention?"

"I do, though I don't understand why would you need to know that."

Abigail was about to reply when she heard someone moving upstairs. Thinking it was a burglar, she hung up her phone before going up to inspect. When she discovered Tadashi Hamada, still alive and is watching an old video of Project Silent Sparrow, she lost it and knocked him out.

Today.

Hiro continued to quietly followed Abigail's orders by designing and building the weapons for Akumax (he thought the new nickname for Baymax was ridiculous) with help from some of the old computers in one of the labs that still worked. Abigail worked alongside so she can supervise his progress.

Hiro suggested a rocket fist attack; powered up, its glove can shoot out from the hand and smash holes into anything no matter how far they are. Realizing the Akumax might need to get somewhere quickly when it's a convenience, Abigail and Hiro placed thrusters on the legs and retractable wings on the back armor.

The young woman loved the upgrades so far, and she asked Hiro to also include a small cannon on Akumax's shoulder pads so he can shoot out explosive projectiles after she was inspired by her old battlebot toy when she was a former botfighter.

"Professor Callaghan mentioned something like that when we first met," Hiro said as he added lithium-ion battery to the leg armor so it would charge up Akumax. "He said that's all you wanted to do."

This made Abigail remember her fond memories as a rebellious teenager, and she chuckled happily. Which felt strange to her as though she hadn't done that for a long time.

"I've been a botfighter for three years and by the time I was sixteen, I made a name for myself," she said, smiling a little. "The reason we're calling this robot Akumax is because I named him after my old battlebot."

Hiro stared at her, slack-jawed. "For a moment there, I thought you were cool... Turns out you're actually a nerd," he said in a deadpan tone.

Abigail gasped and yet, for some odd reason, she didn't become angry like she usually did before.

"I would beat you in a botfight any day," she told him.

"Tough luck. I may not look like it but I'm kind of a brilliant botfighter myself," Hiro said shyly. "Though Tadashi hates it because I use my brains to hustle botfights."

"You're kind of a con artist, aren't you?" Abigail asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Hey," Hiro shrugged. A cocky smile played on his lips. "It's all about the thrills and money. You should see my old battlebot, his name is Megabot..."

Hiro began to talk about Megabot and the tech he used to make it, and the same one that was used as a base to create the microbots. Hearing how it was her father's tech that inspired Hiro, Abigail began to talk about him and what it's like growing up with a scientist for a dad. Soon, the two former botfighters began talking about their personal lives and interests and for a brief moment, it felt like they're sharing a conversation as new friends rather than enemies.

For the first time, Hiro didn't feel so alone and yet he remembered his brother again... and his failure to save him. He was unable to hold back fresh tears falling from his eyes. Abigail became immediately concerned for him and-to her own surprise-wrapped an arm around him.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"I just... missed him, my brother," Hiro said. "I never got to say good-bye to him..."

Abigail hugged him tighter and she thought of her father.

"You'd do anything to see someone you loved and get him back, right?" she asked in a strange tone which Hiro didn't notice.

"More than anything in the world."

Abigail fell silent but she continued to hold Hiro close. Suddenly, one of the technicians burst into the room. Abigail and Hiro quickly broke off the hug.

"Don't you ever learn to knock?!" Abigail shouted at him.

"Sorry, Miss Callaghan!" the expert said. "But the portal build... it's now up and working!"

This is amazing news for Abigail and she almost fainted. However, she stood up straight.

"I'll be there to check it soon. Now leave us," she told him.

After the expert left, Abigail and Hiro placed the final armor on Akumax. Though there's still a matter of activating him.

"He's your brother's invention, how was he activated?" she demanded.

"Oh, you'll have to make a sound of distress," Hiro said. Then he cleared his throat and let out a loud, "Ow!"

Suddenly, Akumax moved and stood towering over them liking a giant, menacing battlebot in his dark armor. He looked around the room before he saw Hiro and Abigail.

"Hello, I'm Baymax," the robot said, waving at the two of them. "Hello, Hiro and Abigail."

"Hey, he knows your name," Hiro said, looking from the bot to Abigail. "And this is your first time meeting him."

"Of course, I have met Abigail before."

Hiro blinked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"The both of us rescued-"

Abigail suddenly pulled out a red fighting chip and opened Akumax's access port. Before the robot can say anything, Abigail slid inside the chip and closed the port shut. Akumax's eyes turned red and almost cruel.

"Never mind what he said, Hiro," Abigail commented. She looked up to Akumax. "From now on, you're working for me. You got that?"

Akumax didn't reply but he slowly nodded. Abigail grinned and turned to face Hiro.

"Since you've been working so hard for these few days, you deserve some rest."

Hiro was uncertain about this since something about what Akumax said earlier made him curious. However, he turned to leave so he can walk back to his room. He stopped at the doorway and glanced back at Abigail.

"Hey, Abigail?" Hiro said with a gentle look on his face. "At first, I thought you were, you know... but tonight, I realized you're not so bad."

Abigail gave him a conflicted smile. "I still did a lot of bad things, kid. I wouldn't say things like that if I were you."

"You know, we should do a botfighting game together some day," Hiro said. He nervously rubbed his neck. "I mean, if that's alright with you..."

Then Hiro left without looking back. Abigail stood in her spot while Akumax waited for her orders. A dark shadow casted over Abigail's face.

The following early morning, Hiro and the Krei Tech employees were in for a surprise when they learn Abigail is releasing them and Krei's secretary would be bringing them back to San Fransokyo. Candace sat on a cabin cruiser at the docks, patiently waiting for the freed prisoners to climb aboard.

"Are you really serious?" A female engineer asked in surprise.

"When I said I'll let you go when you help me finish my plans, I would let you go," Abigail said with sincerity. Akumax is standing behind her. "We had some bumps on the road, but I'm sure you will never see me again once you leave Akuma Island."

"Thank god!" One the engineers exclaimed. He threw her a dirty look before jumping onto the boat, sitting beside Krei's secretary.

The others soon joined him though Hiro was left alone with her and the robot. He was nervous; he didn't know what to say to her? Was he glad to be rid of her or sad that he might never see her again?

"Um, Abigail," he stammered. "I... well..."

Abigail placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Hiro, no matter what I'm going to do from now on, don't think negative about me," Abigail said.

"Hey, as long you don't kidnap anymore people," Hiro laughed though Abigail didn't return the joke. Hiro then looked over to Akumax. He still felt sad to see his brother's last invention being transformed into something different but there's nothing he could do about it.

He then hopped into the cabin cruiser and sat with the adults. Abigail looked over to Krei's secretary.

"Candace, don't you wanna say good-bye too?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Krei's secretary didn't look at Abigail though Hiro swore he noticed her wiping away small tears under her glasses.

"No, thanks," she said quietly. "You know I hate sad good-byes, Abby..."

She then started up the engine and the boat zoomed out from the dock and soon made its way towards the city. Hiro watched the island growing smaller behind them and he felt as though a huge burden was lifted from his chest. Still, something seems wrong about Abigail's choice; she was so adamant of them of not letting them escape, it felt so odd of her letting them go easily.

To his horror, he saw Abigail in the distance talking to Akumax and the robot raised a shoulder cannon towards the boat. Hiro realized the meaning of the woman's last words to him.

No matter what I'm going to do from now on, don't think negative about me.

"LOOK OUT!" Hiro screamed, alerting the others on the boat but it was too late.

Th projectile came too fast and cabin cruiser exploded on impact.

Abigail watched the boat sunk into the waters from the distance, satisfied by both the power of her battlebot and how nobody will reveal her secrets now. She felt a little sad she had to sacrifice Candace, her confidant and only friend left, but in the end she's just a pawn to her plan.

"Alright, Akumax," Abigail said with a dark smile. "Now let's go to San Fransokyo."

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