The Rubble or our Sins?
Click, click, tappity, tappity, tap, tap, click, tap, tap, tappity, click, click, tap.
Tadashi's fingers flew across the keyboard and mouse rapidly retrieving, search results, saved files and print records. It had taken him three days to retrieve the data Hiro thought he had deleted when he'd formatted the drive. Three days of wasted time, three days of worry, anxiety and no small amount of anger. What on earth did Hiro think he was doing, running off like that?
Not wanting to worry Aunt Cass all over again, Tadashi and the gang had told her they were planning to visit Fred's family island to 'frolick'. They'd told her they had sent Hiro on ahead to give him time to relax a little while the rest of the gang took care of all the nitty gritty details before catching up to him. Tadashi had then packed some clothes and moved in with Wasabi so as to avoid further suspicion. He'd then thrown himself into retrieving the data Hiro so obviously didn't want them to see. All those hours of hard work were finally going to pay off.
Tadashi double clicked on a link, opening one of the articles Hiro had been reading just before he'd disappeared. He frowned. He double clicked on another link opening another page and then another and yet another. It just didn't make any sense. "Why is Hiro researching Alistair Krei and Krei Tech?" He finally asked, turning to face Wasabi.
Wasabi was silently peering over Tadashi's shoulder, taking in the data Tadashi had managed to retrieve. The rest of the gang were not far behind them, having rushed right over the moment Tadashi had informed them the data retrieval was almost complete. "I'm not really sure." Wasabi replied taking over from Tadashi.
Click.
Wasabi opened a video, viewing the news coverage of a charity Gala event held not so long ago. He paused the image when Alistair Krei was displayed on the screen. "Why is Hiro interested in a Gala event?"
"Hey!" Fred exclaimed bouncing up and down, pointing at the screen. "That news clip was playing on my TV the day Hiro came to ask me about his kidnapping. His face went all…" Fred dropped his jaw, staring blankly at the screen for a few moments in demonstration before continuing, "…and then he turned white as a ghost. I thought the little guy was going to pass out on me so I went to get him something to drink. He was gone by the time I got back!" Fred blinked suddenly realising everyone was staring at him. "What?"
"And you're only telling us this now because…?" Gogo prompted tapping her foot in impatience.
"I didn't realize that…" Fred indicated the PC screen, "… was the reason he looked so sick. I thought he was still recovering from his kidnapping." Fred declared defensively.
"That's the problem." Gogo snapped. "You don't really think. You rush to ridiculous conclusions and…"
"That's enough!" Tadashi interjected, forestalling further argument. "We can play the blame game later. Right now we need to figure out where Hiro has gone so we can drag his sorry ass right back here and ground it for a month. I'm going to assume Hiro recognized someone in this clip and since it triggered a search on Alistair Krei I'm going to assume it's this guy." Tadashi pointed at Alistair Krei's driver. "He's the only one in the frame we can safely assume is directly linked to Alistair Krei."
Gogo sent Fred one last glare before looking at the screen, taking in the driver's features. "I can't believe Callaghan was right all along." She grumbled, vehemently glaring at the PC screen before her. "Alistair Krei is not be trusted."
"We don't know for certain Alistair Krei was involved." Wasabi stated meekly.
"Why would Hiro be researching the man so avidly if he wasn't involved?" Gogo demanded, this time glaring daggers at Wasabi.
Wasabi cringed but responded anyway. "Just because Hiro thinks the man's involved doesn't mean he is involved." He pointed out.
Pop. The daggers accompanying the sound were positively lethal, repressed aggression hanging thick in the air. One… two… three… "I never liked the man." Gogo spoke breaking the silence a long moment later. "He may not have been the one behind the showcase fire but it was his negligence and narrow mindedness that led to Abigail's disappearance. If he wasn't so focused on financial gain he wouldn't have rushed the project and Abigail wouldn't have been lost in the portal. If Abigail hadn't been lost in the portal Callaghan wouldn't have wanted revenge. It all boils down to greed and Alistair Krei has it in spades."
The silence that followed Gogo's outburst was heavy, filled with conflict, regret and pain broken only by a few soft clicks as Tadashi silently resumed the task of wading through all the data Hiro had retrieved before disappearing. Half an hour later, the puzzle pieces were starting to click into place. "Alistair Krei is in a lot of debt." Tadashi announced turning to face the gang once more. "On the surface he appears to be running a highly successful business but Hiro managed to find reference to several failed projects and connected lawsuits linked to Alistair Krei. He owes a lot of people compensation money."
"Then we made a mistake protecting Alistair Krei all those years ago." Honey Lemon said softly, sighing. "If we had let Callaghan take him down none of this would be happened."
"No." Tadashi shook his head. "At the time, saving Alistair Krei was the right thing to do. Two wrongs don't make a right. It is not our place to punish those we feel have wronged us. That is for the law to decide. Without it we would live in complete anarchy."
"But they hurt your little brother." Honey Lemon pointed out.
Tadashi flinched and turned back to the PC. "I know." He said softly. "And I'm going to make sure we apprehend them for that. Right after we retrieve that which is mine." He looked back up, sheer determination in his eyes.
"Don't we have to find him first?" Gogo asked, quirking an eyebrow up in question.
Tadashi double clicked on the last job listed in the printer queue, turning the screen so everyone could see what was displayed on it. "Hiro printed the architecture plans for Krei Tech's new laboratory in Los Anjo-shi. It looks like there is an unofficial underground level built beneath it, big enough to house a lab and maybe even a portal."
Gogo grinned at the news cracking her knuckles. "Pack your bags, guys." She said turning to head towards the doorway. "Looks like we're going to Los Anjo-shi."
"Fred?" Tadashi swiveled his chair.
"I'm on it." Fred interrupted before Tadashi could get any further, already bouncing up and down in sheer excitement, looking forward to the adventure that lay ahead. "I'll get Heathcliff to warm up the family jet." That said, he launched himself into a run, leaping up into the air as he exited the room. "Woo, hoo. We're off to take down a corporate power! How awesome is that? Scary! But awesome!"
The game was on.
- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –
A/N: Tadashi: 'retrieve that which is mine'. O.O Possessive much?
Guest: Awesome. It's good to know there is someone on the job willing to fight for the fluff-ball we all know and love! Make sure you guys have awesome super suits.
Kiki Anderson: Yeah, you're not supposed to like him. Tadashi is feeling very conflicted, worried and mad. Hiro has conflicted emotions as well.
Ern Estine 13624: One can always hope our genius has a plan ;)
Cosmickatsu: Updates are fast because I was writing ahead of my posting schedule in order to cater for the holidays and life in general. I am now posting a chapter whenever I get the opportunity and since I've already finished writing this I have chapters in reserve allowing me to make updates more frequent.
shooting2stars: Inquisitor does have a way with words doesn't he? Mean ones. Hiro is drawing on all his bot fighting acting experience in order to keep up his facade. Thanks for the compliment *HUGS*
CrazyBlueOwl: Agreed. Autocorrect... the root of all evil... The buyer isn't the main villain at this stage as he is currently a non existent entity. That won't change in this story but who knows... I like your future Hiro theory but sadly I have not written this piece that way...
Dreamer: You are correct. Hiro has done his best to at least stall them. Don't worry too much about Wasabi's laptop, Tadashi is only using it to access Hiro's hardrive. The laptop will be fine. Tadashi refuses to consider how and why Hiro left. His current focus is find him and get him back. Anything other than that is inconsequential in his mind. Yes I am a 'predicting' story buddy too. I find it easy to guess what is coming and sometimes am able to predict things all the way till the end. Sometimes I read a story and just sigh at all this missed opportunities. One of my stories was written because I read a story where I loved the concept but hated the execution so I basically wrote a story for how I think it should have been , the double entendre comment was a hint telling the reader that Hiro is up to more than he appears to be XD. He is a smart kid, as proved in his little game with Inquisitor and we should all have a little faith XD
zeechankawaii: That is the sweetest thing anyone has said to me thus far and it really means a lot to me especially as I have been secretly dreaming about how cool it would be if the generic plot was used as a sequel.