hello friends! here is the fifth chapter of Shattered Sun!

I'm so excited...this story is really starting to amp up! I've got some more romance in this chapter, establishing all the pairings...i hope y'all enjoy those! i love the pairings in this, i wanted to mix them up! I think i've partnered all of the MCs now so i'm super excited!

TRIGGER WARNING: torture scene. No serious physical injury, just pain simulation, but it's pretty terrible. Thanks to my sis Helena for helping me write that (these kinds of scenes are really hard for me to write).

thanks everyone for reading! Please review so I know how everything's going!

also we're still on megan's perspective in case anyone forgot! just thought i'd remind you!

thanks friends!

peace out!

We sit in the cell for what must be several hours, listening to the pattering of the rain, and then I hear a soft voice—a voice so quiet I almost think I've imagined it.

"Hiro?"

The voice seems to issue from a small crack in the rock wall of our cell, and Hiro's eyes widen. He crawls over to the hole and peers inside, then gasps. "Aunt Cass?"

"Hiro!" she gasps, her voice tearful. "My baby! Oh my gosh—you're here! Are you okay? Is Tadashi with you?"

"I'm okay," Hiro replies, and I can hear the same sadness in his voice. "But Tadashi isn't here. Meg and I were captured by the North Koreans—I don't know what they're gonna do to us. Are you—are you okay? How long have you been here?"

"Since three days after the battle," Cass tells him. "I don't know exactly how long."

"What?" Hiro gasps. "Aunt Cass, it's been almost a month! Did Jeong hurt you? Are you okay?"

"I—Hiro, I won't make it much longer," she rasps. "They attacked me…I've had an infection for weeks. I don't know how I'm not dead yet. Hiro—I don't think I'll make it out of here."

"You have to," Hiro whispers. "You have to get back and see Tadashi."

He slides his hand into the crack, and Cass grabs it with her own, stroking her nephew's bloody skin. Letting go for a moment, Hiro takes my hand and places it in the crack with his, and Cass's fingers brush against my palm.

"Megan? Is that you?" Hiro's aunt whispers.

"Yeah," I murmur. "It's me. Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of here. Don't let anyone see, but—" I lower my voice and reach into my pocket with my free hand. "I still have a graphene blade."

Suddenly, footsteps echo in the hall and I thrust the blade into Cass's cell. "Quick, take it! Don't move!"

Everyone falls silent, and I freeze as Jeong comes into view. She's holding some kind of small blue…stickers?

My eyes widen as Jeong unlocks the barred door and steps into our cell, then grabs Hiro by the collar and jerks him to his feet. My boyfriend—

Whoa. Adrenaline rush.

—Hiro lets out an angry, catlike hiss and kicks Jeong in the shins, but she doesn't even flinch. Her eyes, dark gray and narrowed in anger, suddenly spark a flash of déjà vu in my head. Where have I seen those eyes before?

"Let go of me!" Hiro snaps, trying to wiggle free of the chasu's grip. But Jeong is a lot stronger than she looks, and instead of releasing Hiro, she yanks back his shirt and sticks a small blue patch onto his shoulder.

"Take this one to the jug-eum chamber," Jeong snarls. "Have the robot hold him, and subdue him if he struggles. As for the girl—I'll get her ready and we'll meet you in a few minutes. Don't let the boy get the transdermal patch off."

"No!" Cass screams as Jeong throws Hiro to her comrades and then grabs my arm. "Let him go! If you dare hurt him—"

"Oh, we'll leave no physical damage," Jeong says silkily. "But you'd better pray he doesn't say the wrong thing to me, or we may be returning him to you in a few more pieces than you'd like."

Cass's screams echo down the stone corridor as Jeong drags me away. I struggle, of course, but my ribs send jolts of pain through my body every time I move and my head is spinning from standing up. I'm in no condition to fight this woman.

"Do not struggle," Jeong hisses as she shoves me into a massive stone chamber. The walls are lined with some kind of ports, with two small docking areas on each of them. My eyes widen as Jeong pulls me over to one and commands me to kneel.

"No—let me go—" I protest, then cut myself off with a gasp as a stab of pain shoots through my ribs. If they're not broken, I'm the queen of Timbuktu.

Jeong yanks my wrists up above my head, and I realize what the docking stations are for as what feel like handcuffs snap closed, locking my wrists in place. I snap my teeth at her retreating hand, but I miss by approximately 0.023 inches. Or some other very small unit of measurement.

The chasu kneels down in front of me, her face set in an expression of grim satisfaction. "Miss Cruz, we are about to complete a mission vital to the survival of North Korea. If you want the boy to live, I suggest you give me the information I seek. If you will not yield after approximately one hour, we will transfer the interrogation to Hiro and ask him to answer our questions. By telling me what I wish to know, you can save him pain. If you do not do this, he will be subject to agony until you yield. Do you understand?"

I nod, my eyes wide—well, as wide as they can be, since one of them is swollen nearly shut. What is Jeong gonna do to Hiro?

Jeong claps her hands together, and Baymax enters the room, Hiro clutched in one massive hand. The robot locks Hiro into a port on the opposite side of the chamber, and Hiro stares at me, his eyes full of terror, as Jeong walks to the center of the room.

"Now," she whispers. "Where to begin?"

"First question," Jeong declares, pinning me with her glare. "Have you lied to me about your relationship with Mr. Hamada?"

Figuring this question won't incriminate us—after all, it was only a ruse so we wouldn't be separated in the labor camp—I decide to answer truthfully. "Yes."

"And what is your relation, if any, to him?"

"We're not related," I tell her. "At least, not closely enough to know. He's my best friend—" And my boyfriend. "—but not my brother, adopted or otherwise."

Jeong nods. "Very well. Next question. Do you have the neural transmitter, used to control the microbots, in your possession?"

I shake my head—Callaghan has the transmitter, and he's hopefully very far away by now. "No. Neither of us has the neural transmitter, or any microbots."

"Are you armed in any other way?"

I shake my head, grateful that I passed my blade to Cass before we left. "No, we're not. You can search us if you want, but you won't find anything."

"Scan them," Jeong snaps at one of her comrades, who stands at the edge of the room. The soldier—I recognize him as Hyun, the man who took Baymax away—presses a button on a control panel, which is mounted on the wall, and a shaft of green light emanates from a scanner on the ceiling. It passes over me, then Hiro, and then the scanner says in a cool voice, "No weapons detected."

"Excellent. So far you have managed to keep from lying to me," Jeong says, looking disdainfully down at me. "But let's see how long you last. Next question—what is your connection to Big Hero 6?"

"I've heard of them," I tell her, trying to keep my gaze steady and innocent. "I know they've saved San Fransokyo multiple times. But I've never crossed paths with them. Neither has Hiro, to my knowledge."

Jeong pauses for a moment, then whispers, "You lie, Cruz."

"No, I don't," I reply, infusing my tone with annoyance and bewilderment. "I've never met Big Hero 6 before."

The chasu narrows her eyes. "I do believe you have. The armor of some members of your resistance is rather remarkably similar to the armor of Big Hero 6—the most obvious being the lizard man, of course. You have too many members to be just the vigilante group, but I do believe you've added a few—most likely my spies and Hamada's brother, along with the business tycoon we had captured until just recently. So, let's try this one more time."

Jeong snaps her fingers, and Hiro's face tightens, his jaw clenching as if in pain. His bleeding hand curls into a fist, and I realize that Jeong is starting to implement the incentive so I'll comply with her requests.

"What is your connection to Big Hero 6?" she asks one more time, her tone dangerously low. I weigh the options in my mind—either don't tell her and put Hiro in a lot of pain, or reveal that Hiro is the leader of the vigilantes and potentially kill him—unless she just wants to use him for something?

I can't explain it, but my gut is telling me that I need to tell her something. Whatever else, I don't want to see the boy I love in pain. Besides, Hiro and I are almost the same size—and she's never seen the vigilantes' leader without his armor on…

I take a deep breath. "I'm the leader of Big Hero 6."

Hiro's eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to call out, but I silence him with a glare, nonverbally telling him that he can't say anything. I can't let him fall into Jeong's hands.

"Is that so?" Jeong whispers, crossing the room and bending over me. "Are you telling the truth?"

I glare up into her stormy eyes and say, "Yes."

"And what is Hamada's connection to them?"

"None," I tell her. "He discovered my identity several months ago, and I made him swear never to tell anyone. He doesn't know anything about the rest of Big Hero 6 or our strategies, only that I'm the leader."

Jeong spins around and faces Hiro. "Is she telling the truth?"

I shake my head wildly, trying to communicate to Hiro to go along with the lie. But he looks up at Jeong and says, "No. Please, don't hurt her—she's trying to protect me. But I'm the leader of Big Hero 6."

"He's lying!" I shout desperately. "It's me!"

Jeong snaps her fingers again, and Hiro gasps, a spasm of pain crossing his face. "No—Meg, just tell her—"

"I swear it's me!" I yell, but then Hiro lets out a real cry of pain and I give in. "Alright—I lied! It's Hiro! But please, please don't hurt him or I won't tell you anything else!" I don't know what's happening to Hiro, but I think it has something to do with that blue patch Jeong put on his shoulder—and it looks painful.

"Do you both affirm that this is the truth?" Jeong hisses, and both of us nod. "Very well. Who are the other members of your faction, what weapons do they possess, and where is your camp located?"

I decide to give her a vague answer. "The other members are the ones you speculated about earlier, they have powers kind of like Big Hero 6, and the camp is somewhere in a thousand-mile radius."

Jeong does not appreciate the sarcasm. She strides over to me and slaps me across the face, and I gasp. The sound is echoed by Hiro, whose fists are still clenched in pain.

"Tell me where the base is," Jeong snaps.

"No," I reply, determined not to incriminate the other members of Echo.

"Tell me!"

"No!"

Sometimes arguing is my best defense. But it proves a bad decision after Hiro squeezes his eyes shut and lets out another cry, which quickly rises to a screech as Jeong raises what I guess is the level of pain.

"Don't tell her, Meg!" Hiro gasps through gritted teeth.

"You want to save him, don't you?" Jeong taunts. "All you have to do is answer my question, Cruz. One simple answer, and then I'll make his pain stop. Just tell me where your base is."

I take a deep breath. Hiro might be in pain, but I don't think this will kill him—the pain is some kind of simulation, not a physical injury. I have to be strong, to hold out, to not tell Jeong anything that could hurt the rest of Echo—it could be the difference between sparing Hiro an hour or two of pain and dooming the lives of everyone in the resistance.

I give Jeong my final answer. "No."

And Hiro screams.

It's a terrible, drawn-out shriek of pain, shattering the air, splitting the fabric of time and ripping holes in space. That's what it sounds like to my ears, anyway. Any sound of pain from my best friend—my boyfriend—makes me want to curl up into a ball and hide, or to beat Chasu Jeong into submission. The second one would be preferable.

Hiro screams again, and I clench my jaw, willing myself not to give up any information. I think Jeong asks the question again, and maybe more questions, but I don't hear any of them. I only hear Hiro and the pounding of my own heart.

"Stop!" I yell, knowing it won't do any good but still trying. "Please, stop! Don't hurt him! You can't do this!"

And then Jeong lunges forward, grabbing my shirt and pulling it away from my shoulder. She slams a blue patch identical to Hiro's onto my shoulder, and then I feel his pain.

I can't help it. I scream too. Liquid fire seems to rush through my veins, emanating from the spot where the patch is stuck to my skin. I'm not sure how this works, but it is hands down the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.

Jeong smiles evilly, and the pain, if possible, gets worse. Hiro's screams of pain drown every sound in the room, including my own.

"Tell me!" Jeong snaps, her eyes narrowed in a furious glare. "Just tell me, and you can spare him—or I can exacerbate the pain to the point that it will feel as though I am snapping every bone in his body."

"No," I gasp. "No, I can't…I won't…"

Jeong's face twists in fury, and Hiro starts to thrash, his teeth clenched so hard it looks like they might break. And then he screams again, the worst one yet—so loud and high-pitched that I'm afraid he might have torn a vocal cord. It's only a few seconds before the pain hits me too, and then we're both screaming our agony to the sky.

I go limp as the pain lessens enough that I can breathe again, but the sound that comes from the other side of the chamber hurts almost as much. My eardrums feel like they will burst as Hiro's tortured screams echo across the room and seem to carve into my heart.

Jeong snaps her fingers. Hiro's cries dissolve into sobbing, tears and sweat dripping down his face.

"I can end this now, Miss Cruz," Jeong says to me. "Tell me where the base is, and I will stop this."

"Meg...no..." Hiro gasps, struggling to breathe through sobs. "Please, Meg...please...don't..."

I look into Jeong's cruel, dark eyes. "You've gotta swear he'll be safe from any harm."

She smiles. "You do not make the conditions, Cruz."

"Megan-" Hiro's voice is cut off by a cry of pain, and something in me snaps. I can't let this go on any longer—but I can't let everyone in Echo die.

So I take a deep breath and say, "Lucky Cat Cafe."

Hiro's eyes widen as the lie leaves my mouth. Jeong's eyes narrow, searching mine for any hint of dishonesty.

After a moment of silence that seems like an eternity, she says, "You are lying to me."

"No." I try to keep my voice from shaking. "I swear, really, I'm not-"

"The Lucky Cat Cafe burned down four days ago," Jeong snarls. "Even if you had based there before, you are no longer there."

She raises her hand, her fingers bending into the gesture that I know will be immediately followed by Hiro's screams.

"No," I gasp desperately. "Please, no, please..."

Her fingers snap.

And almost instantly, Hiro starts to scream again.

I lose track of how long it takes. I almost start to block out his cries, and it horrifies me to think that I might be getting used to it. Eventually, I catch sight of a clock on the wall-it's been over an hour, maybe two, since Jeong brought us in here.

Hiro's wrists are starting to bleed from his thrashing, and his screams are only getting worse. He's in so much pain I don't know how he hasn't passed out yet.

Finally I can't take it anymore.

"Stop!" I scream, wanting it to end for both me and Hiro. "Don't do this! You don't have to be a monster, Jeong! You don't have to be this way! Just—just let him go!"

Jeong's eyes go wide, and I gasp, "Please!"

And it stops.

"Take them back to their cell," Jeong chokes out, and I realize that she's crying. "Just—take them. We'll—we'll continue tomorrow."

She rushes across the room and dashes out the door, her face buried in her hands. I stare after Jeong as she goes, wondering if what I said actually made her stop.

Baymax comes forward and releases Hiro's cuffs, and my best friend collapses into the robot's grasp, going completely limp. I hang from my port, panting, somehow both relieved and horrified, until Baymax marches over and releases me too. Even as he grabs me around the waist, I don't struggle. I'm too tired.

I look worriedly over at Hiro as Baymax carries us back into the stone corridor. He looks like death—breathing shallowly, eyes closed, fingers dangling limply over Baymax's fist.

"Hiro?" I rasp, my throat hoarse from screaming. "Are you—are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"Meg," Hiro whispers, his voice so faint I can barely hear it. "I'm sorry I t-told her…I didn't want Jeong to h-hurt you. But you stopped her…I think what you said saved my life. So…yeah. Thanks."

"Don't thank me just yet," I murmur as we stop outside the door of our cell. "We've still got to get out of here."

Baymax pulls open the door and tosses both of us into the cell. Hiro curls into a ball on the floor as he lands and doesn't move. Upon landing next to him, I decide I don't want to move either, so there we lay, motionless on the cold stone.

"What happened?" Cass exclaims from her cell. From my vantage point, I can see her wide green eyes staring through the small crack near the base of the wall.

"Are you okay?" Cass asks frantically. "What did she do to you?"

"Some kind of pain simulation," I whisper. "We're not hurt, but Hiro's in a lot of pain."

"I'm fine," Hiro says weakly. "It's wearing off…probably be gone in a few hours. I'll be okay, Aunt Cass, I promise."

He reaches up to his shoulder and pulls the small blue patch off, wincing as it peels away from his skin. I pull off my own and bring it close to my face, studying it. It seems to have tiny lines of circuitry running through it. What is this?

I ask Hiro this question, and he replies, "Transdermal patch. It's usually used for drug therapy—I think for an alternative to shots. It shoots the drug through your veins—I'm guessing there was some kind of pain-inducing injection in these. And Karmi uses these to subdue biotech patients. If Jeong has these…she must have gotten them from Karmi. She's the one who betrayed us to Jeong, anyway."

"I'm gonna kill her," I whisper. "I swear, Hiro, if I ever get the chance, I will make Karmi pay for everything she did to you."

"We have to get you two out of here," Cass whispers. "What should we do? I still have your blade, Megan—should I start carving some kind of hole?"

"We just have to saw the locks off," I rasp. "You can go ahead and start on yours. Just be careful—I don't want you to hurt yourself worse."

Cass retreats from the hole, and I hear the unmistakable sound of the blade sawing at the metal. I kneel down next to Hiro's supine form, gently stroking his hair and whispering, "It's okay. We're gonna get out of here. It won't be long before we're back at camp."

"Thanks, Meg," Hiro murmurs, sitting up and bracing his back against the wall. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

I give him a weak smile. "And I don't know what I'd do without you. We'll be okay, Hiro. You'll see. Don't be scared."

"I'm not," he whispers. "I'm with you."

—FRED—

The night is nearly pitch-black in the shadows next to the ruins of SFIT, but I still put my suit in invisibility mode as I creep over a pile of rubble. I don't want to risk being seen by anyone.

GoGo's silhouette melts out of the darkness fifty feet away, and I turn off my invisibility as she approaches. "Hey, Fred."

"Hey," I whisper, but there is no affection in my tone tonight.

She sighs. "What did I do."

"Only betrayed us to North Korea," I reply. "You lured us into a trap, and now Hiro and Meg are probably dead—or at least really, really upset! Why would you betray your friends?"

"Fred—"

"And you helped Karmi! No one in their right mind would ever help Karmi! How could you ever—"

"Fred!" GoGo snaps, cutting me off. "Listen, you nitwit! Maybe I did lure you guys into a trap, but hear me out before you break up with me!"

I cut off my diatribe for a moment, crossing my arms and sticking my bottom lip out. I know, it kinda makes me look like a pouting toddler, but it's my "I'm mad" pose.

"Karmi was making plans to take you guys out, after the one in Muirahara didn't work," GoGo starts. "She came up with the trap, and she chose me to be the one who brought you to it. None of us felt, well, good about tricking you guys, so Momokase and I decided that I'd bring you here, and she would warn you to turn back when you got close. I didn't know you guys had wings—none of us did. We thought you'd be a lot slower than you were, so Momokase couldn't get far enough away to actually warn you before you got to her. We tried, but…" GoGo trails off. "I'm—I'm sorry, Fred. This is my fault."

"Hey," I whisper again, this time with real emotion in my tone. "It's okay. I get it. I'm, um, sorry I overreacted—but in my defense, it totally looked like you were in league with Karmi. Do you wanna come back to Echo? Wasabi managed to get away. I bet you could too."

"Love to, but can't," GoGo whispers. "Karmi would punish the others if I left—she might even kill them. She's already suspicious of Momokase, and I don't want anyone in Vortex to be murdered because of me. Maybe some other time, Fred, when it's a little less dangerous."

"This is war," I point out. "It's never not dangerous."

GoGo laughs. "Brilliant observation."

I laugh too, realizing just how much I love GoGo. She's so tough and calculating on the outside, but her other side is a little softer—actually willing to be kind, to stick her neck out for her friends. That side only comes out around me, and I wish others could see it—but at the same time, I want to keep it all to myself.

"Still," GoGo continues, "I live to do dangerous things. Maybe sometime soon, Fred. I'll just have to take everyone else who wants to leave with me—Momokase and Abigail will definitely come. It's obvious that their hearts aren't in this. Granville will probably stick with Karmi until the end of the war, but that's because she doesn't want to leave her students."

"She left Hiro," I point out.

"Yeah, but Hiro had family to protect him," GoGo reminds me. "Karmi didn't have anyone but Liv, and then she left too. Granville feels obligated to help her, whatever she does to Echo."

"I wish you guys could all come back," I whisper. "I miss you, GoGo. I don't want to have to sneak out to see you—I want you to be with me for the rest of this war." And forever. "GoGo, I—" I cut myself off, twining my claws together nervously.

"Go ahead," she says, smiling rather devilishly. "I can tell you've got something important to say."

"GoGo," I say quietly, "I know I'm sometimes an idiot. And I don't always make the best decisions. And that I'm maybe a little bit too obsessed with comic books. But I also know that I love you, and I want to be your sidekick forever." GoGo smiles, the most genuine one I've ever seen from her.

"I don't have a ring," I whisper. "Sorry about that. But I hope you'll let me do this without it." I sink to one knee, taking GoGo's hand as gently as I can in my claws. "GoGo, when this is all over, I want to marry you—if that's okay with you. Will you—will you—I mean, I totally understand if you don't want—"

"Of course I'll marry you, you idiot," GoGo says, and then she yanks me up and presses her lips to mine, for the longest time we've ever held a kiss. Sure, I've given her pecks on the cheek before, and occasionally on the lips, but this is the first time GoGo has ever initiated it. And it feels amazing—like fire and ice and wind all at the same time.

It's as close to perfect as we're ever gonna get.

—TADASHI—

"We can't do anything!" Callaghan says despairingly, grabbing my arm. "We have to get out of here, Tadashi! We can't help him if we're all captured!"

"Hiro," I gasp, then call out as loud as I can. "Hiro!"

But Baymax has carried my little brother away, along with Meg, and I want nothing more than to fall to my knees and cry. I can't do that, though—bullets are still flying through the air, and we need to run.

"Come on!" Callaghan shouts, pulling me away. "We have to get back to base and make our plan there!"

"Go!" Momokase calls from where she's attempting to fend off several North Koreans, and I realize that the rest of Vortex has joined the fight, excepting Karmi, who is simply standing at the top of one of the less destroyed SFAI buildings, a look of satisfaction on her face as Baymax carries Hiro and Meg away.

Suddenly, Momo lets out a shriek as one of the North Koreans, sweeps her legs out from under her—the first time I've ever seen her fall in battle. She starts to jump back up, but the soldier kicks her in the side, where her half-healed pneumothorax is. It's enough to keep her on the ground for a split second, and the soldier aims his rifle at her chest.

And so I run, ignoring Professor Callaghan's yell and the way my still-injured knee twinges. It's nearly healed—I'll be fine. I wouldn't even care if it wasn't healed. I have enough adrenaline to power me to the moon.

I plow into the soldier's side, knocking him over as his rifle goes off with a loud crack. Both he and I tumble to the ground, and I hear a high-pitched shriek from above as I roll off the soldier and lay there for a second, slightly dazed.

"Get up!" Momo hisses, and I feel her grip on my arm, pulling me to my feet. "Tadashi, you idiot! Get out of here!"

"I can't just leave you here!" I gasp. "You guys can't take all these North Koreans!"

"I appreciate the sentiment!" Momo yells. "But you have to leave!"

"Come with me, then!" I tell her. "Please, Momo! You might be the only one who can help us save Hiro and Meg!"

Momo looks around at the battle, and then up at Karmi, who is slumped over the edge of the roof, clutching her shoulder. "I suppose she might not notice…"

"Wait, did I shoot her?" I yelp. "When I tackled that guy—did his shot hit her?"

"Indeed it did," Momo says with more relish than required. "Come on, let's go. Now."

I turn to see two North Koreans sprinting toward us, rifles raised, and decide that yes, now might be a good time to run.

Momo grabs my arm and yanks me forward, and we both bolt across the SFAI courtyard, heading for the street. Gunshots echo behind us, and I gasp as I feel a small projectile graze my ankle. I don't know if it's a bullet, but the cut immediately starts to sting and I stumble slightly. Momo keeps a firm grip on my arm and continues to drag me toward freedom.

As soon as we reach the street, my wings snap out—they work!

"Do you want me to carry you?" I gasp to Momo. "We'd go a lot faster—"

"I'll run!" she exclaims. "Don't worry, I'll catch up! Fly, Tadashi!"

"I can't leave you—"

"Go!"

I fire up my thrusters and take off, soaring into the sky with a spurt of bright blue fire. I can already see several other members of Echo flying away, and I feel a pang of sadness that Hiro and Meg aren't flying away with us.

But I'm going to get them back. I'm going to save them.

Whatever it takes.