man your battle stations, we'll have you dead pretty soon

[tadeadshi]

[Panic had run straight through his core when he knew someone had found their safe house. It'd been the best one yet, they had managed to stay there for months now, but it really was too good to last. They still had so much to find and clean up, he wasn't ready. He grabs his bag, the one he kept packed for if they had to run fast, and made for the door but stopped just outside.

It was them. It was the Six, they'd found him and Callaghan. He's not sure how, Callaghan's mods to his collar had jammed their trackers so... It must be something else they used. But if they're here then they could help. They could take over this mess, and he could go home.

Maybe.

Tadashi's throat's gone dry with the dirt and dust kicked up from their landing and scuffle with Callaghan off to the side and he stands watching, swallowing the lump in his throat. Callaghan, that's right, he-- He'd done so much to get them out, he couldn't let the guy just be taken back to prison, he'd be killed from the inside --

He makes a run towards the group, waving and trying to call out but any sound he makes drowned by the shouting.]

Comments

[tadeadshi]

Nothing, nothing.

[He shakes his head, leaning it back against the wall with a little smile. It all worked out, didn't it? At least for him. He's still worried about Callaghan, not knowing where he went. He hopes it wasn't jail. Or back with the mob. But he's safe. He's home and it's thanks to that guy.]

Just wish I could've thanked him for helping me get home.

[microbrobotics]

[ Alter egos. Hiro can't look his brother in the eye for a moment there; it's all he can do to blink hard enough to keep the tears at bay. It's going to be so hard to keep this hidden when his brother says things like that. ]

He probably knows, right? I mean, he brought you here. He knew we were family.

[pushtheboundaries]

[fear makes people do things.

it makes people play what cards they have, to try and pull any bluffs they can think of, rash decisions that may be better served thought through but Callaghan has committed himself now. the stressed response is still there, peaking, even, but he ignores everyone else but Hiro. he locks eyes, hunches his shoulders, and lowers his voice to an intent firmness]

If you turn me in, I will not survive the week, and I cannot promise your secrets will be safe.

[its an odd threat, to be sure. but it's either that or outright imply he'd betray them]

[microbrobotics]

[ No mistaking that. Odd or not, it's a threat - and a threat that Hiro has to take seriously. He's kept their identities secret for too long, taken too many precautions. He's already seen (and subtly defused) the mafia surveilling his home; he knows that if they had his secret identity, even a whiff of who he could be, then he and his Aunt would be dead or kidnapped within the day. The Six have been busting up way too many of Yama's operations - plus, Yama has plenty of reason to hate Hiro, specifically.

So what does he do with that? A counterthreat bubbles to his lips immediately - try it and your daughter will be next - but he forces it back down. Refuses to stoop that low, no matter how oppressive the temptation might be. That ... doesn't leave him a whole lot of options. Except, maybe, to try calling his bluff. ]

Should have told them earlier then. Your mistake.

[pushtheboundaries]

[he wasn't sure what he expected. Hiro to explore options? he knows very well they're similar and respond in similar ways to being pushed; the first response is to push bezel, to overcome with their own force of personality or whatever they have at hand.

but it's those two words that are the final blow. after staring at Hiro a moment longer...he heaves out a heavy breath and lowers his head, eyes closing]

... your choice.

[the defeat in him is palpable. he knew he wouldn't be trusted. ]

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro is stubbornly stiff through all this, but the rest of the team ripples at that; they know their professor better than Hiro does, and what that expression means. Hiro hears their murmurings in their headset, knows what's coming. They're going to try to talk him out of this and he hates that. Especially since his friends almost always turn out to be right. ]

What do you want, Callaghan? For us to just let you go? So you can make more weapons to hurt us?

[ He shifts a bit, turning that badly scored left arm towards him. Emphasizing his point. ]

[tadeadshi]

He knew my name, and it wouldn't be hard to trace me back to a, uh college prodigy.

[He'd managed to hear some of it. His information was split between snippets of news reports between projects and some that Robert told him. Enough that he got the picture.

And if nothing else, he can smile proudly at his brother for it all, albeit a tired one.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Unfair. Seeing his brother smile proudly, talk about those accomplishments that had been good but so, so hollow without his brother by his side to see them too - it's too much. This time, at least, he remembers to go slow when he moves to hug his brother. A tiny, wavery sob escapes him before he manages to get it back under control. ]

I'm so glad you're home...

aaaand i just noticed that html bork a couple comments back. whupsies at small-SMALL text.

[pushtheboundaries]

[there's something to be said about Hiro reaching out earlier, as well; while Callaghan's eyes do raise at the question, they don't stay that way for long. his face his neutral, all but blank, and the fear response is beginning to ebb in to resignation.

his voice, when he speaks, is quiet. steady, but quiet.]

I already told you - I'm not going to discuss this here.

[tadeadshi]

[Ah - With Hiro moving slowly, he can prepare himself for the breach in personal space, enough that even hugging back doesn't feel too unnatural. It still comes across unpracticed (too used to tiny baby brother hugs or someone much taller and bigger) but he's still in disbelief he's home to do it at all. He wishes he could tell Hiro what took so long. Where he was, what happened, wishes he could tell him everything. But his thoughts stall, hitching not only for his own sake - not wanting to think about those things at all, not wanting to recount the things done to him or that he'd done - but also for his brother's safety.

Now that he's here, Tadashi isn't sure what will happen. He and Callaghan had spent so much time just trying to get out and clean everything up that he never really thought this far ahead. Or maybe he just didn't think he'd make it this far. They'd stopped in front of the cafe, once, in the dead of night on their way to a different safe house and he'd looked up at the window, wanting so, so badly to come in, but it just wasn't the right time yet.

Tadashi gives his brother a little squeeze before loosening his hug, not really wanting to lose the contact now that it feels safe, but not knowing what else he should do.]

I'm-- I'm really glad too.

EXTRA small text just makes it more fun to read

[microbrobotics]

[ They need more information; Hiro can see the practicality in that. But he can't risk Callaghan escaping either, and like hell he'll let the professor try and fight them again. He opens his mouth to say something - and then he sees that figure behind Cal again. The one that looks like his brother, close enough to be a ghost or ...

He pushes forward and past Callaghan. But not without issuing a command to the team behind him: ]

Don't let him move. We'll find someplace to interrogate him. Six, hold him.

[ Baymax obediently looms over Cal while Hiro takes awkward, halting steps towards his brother. ]

well then

[pushtheboundaries]

[off to jail with him, he figures, and then off, period. though the thought of another place makes him cautiously optimistic. perhaps he can find a way to escape and go back on the run if...

...he looks over his shoulder, the hair at the back of his neck prickling, and then- then he realizes, and swears under his breath.]

Damn it, kid.

[this won't end well.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Even awkward brother hugs are so, so much better than none. His brother has a long recovery ahead of him - but he's here with Hiro all along? And Hiro gets to see it? He doesn't care. A broken brother still isn't dead. And considering what Hiro's found out about Yama's mafia just from fighting them ... Maybe his brother did pretty well after all. At least he's not missing any limbs.

He leans lightly against his brother afterwards, keeping enough of his weight off Tadashi so that he can move back and have his space back, if he wants. He probably shouldn't do this while his brother is still so delicate, but he can't help it. It's so good to be able to feel his brother there physically present. ]

Were - were you hurt? You've got ...

[ He avoids mentioning the collar, instead looking down at some of the bruises on Tadashi's arms. ]

[microbrobotics]

[ No. No it won't. Though at least now Hiro is well and truly distracted;Callaghan could escape on the back of a unicorn and he wouldn't give it a single glance. Not with his dead brother alive and - well, he's alive even if he's not well. But it's clear that Tadashi doesn't recognize Hiro, and Hiro can't even give him a hint while they're out in the open like this.

And then he reaches for Tadashi's collar. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[Callaghan doesn't move as Hiro approaches his brother. he doesn't respond to the confused murmuring, nor does he even think of escaping when their attention drifts to Tadashi. all he can think about is how this is it; this is something that he'd known had to happen sooner or later, even if he was torn between the thought that Tadashi himself wasn't ready for it...

...and being glad for such, because it meant he'd have more time with him.

he's still and he's silent, but only, only when Hiro begins to move for the collar does he stiffen, and then try and move forwards]

No!

[immediately they're holding him back, but it's too late, either way; Tadashi convulses and then collapses, and Callaghan's voice goes raw with desperation]

It's implanted, you can't get it off without major surgery! Back off, damn it, Hiro!

[he has to get the attention, he has to pull it off Tadashi, Wasabi's got strength to hold him but the others have to get involved because he's fighting- there's a hiss about the usage of the name, but thankfully it's close enough to another word that it could be mistaken for such. in desperation, Callaghan tries to meet their eyes, anyone who'll actually listen to him.]

Tell him to stop touching it! They designed it to resist tampering, and if he keeps messing with it it'll shock him again-!

[it was hard enough for him to work on it, when he had the chance, and he can still remember Tadashi's terrified stillness as he forced himself to not rush through it, to be sure, to be safe and not trigger the damn thing-]

[microbrobotics]

[ At least Hiro backs off immediately; he recognizes a nasty piece of implanted tech when he sees one. Baymax leaves Hiro's side to hover close to Tadashi, monitoring his vitals and sending all that information to Hiro's HUD. And Hiro himself - now he's the terrified and desperate one, standing over his brother's collapsed body. If he's hurt his brother... No, he's already done that. If he's killed his brother... ]

What is it? Who's they? How do I --

[ He needs that thing off right the hell now. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

It's a collar, and you can thank the mafia for that while we were their 'guests'! [he swallows, because here's the part Hiro's going to hate just as much as he does.] You can't stop it once it starts, you have to- you have to let it finish and then leave it alone. The jammer I put on it keeps him from being tracked

[by Baymax as well, incidentally, and Robert himself has a modified wrist-bracer with a similar device within it {he has two- the other, however, holds a dart-launcher for when he's in a position where the microbots aren't feasible}]

but I couldn't do anything to interfere with the shock itself without...without...

[...without risking massive trauma, if not death. and that was not a risk he was willing to ask Tadashi to take, not after everything.]

[microbrobotics]

[ It utterly kills Hiro to watch his brother writhe in pain. Like watching him run into that burning building all over again, when he hasn't even recovered from the initial shock of finding out that Tadashi is alive. He breathes in huge gulps, struggling to find any sort of calm. Breathe, stupid. Baymax is routing every detail to him right now. If his brother dips too far, then they'll go right then and there... ]

Why? Why did they take him?

[ Why the collar, why everything else? He already knows, but he's hoping beyond hope that Cal has a different answer for him. ]

[tadeadshi]

[Tadashi looks at Hiro when he asks, then follows his eyes to his own arms. Bruised and scarred and just not very happy looking arms, really. He carefully folds his arms, rubbing at them nervously.]

Some of it's from the fire, I don't - [gulp] Don't remember much of it.

[Remembers the heat, the sparks. Sees the flames as clear as day, hears the crackling, himself coughing and shout for Callaghan. Could almost just make out his figure there a few feet away and something dark at his feet and then a whump all around him before it went black.]

The rest of it's just - [Abuse, fighting, beaten, falls, scrapes, -teach you to be insubordinate- ] Long two years, is all. It's fine.

[microbrobotics]

[ Obviously not, he wants to say, but not only does he not want to make his brother talk about awful things when he's clearly gone through trauma ... he's not sure how to tell his brother that he recognizes the difference between the occasional bruise and signs of consistent, painful scarring. Lived the difference, seen it in the rest of the Six too. None of them have come through the last two years unscathed.

Gently, very gently, he puts one hand on Tadashi's arm. ]

Where were you? ... Why couldn't you come home?

[ Doesn't even ask "didn't" there. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[Callaghan does, but it's not the answer Hiro wants to hear. it's not the answer he wants to share, it's not one he wants to consider- his eyes fall to Tadashi, and he wants to stay quiet, wants to hold his silence and not discuss this here but this is something that...that...]

...because of...the fire. They found him as a John Doe.

[because of Callaghan's fire. because of him.
this is all because of him.

he swallows, manages to get his voice steady again, then proffers some more necessary information]

He'll recover in a few hours. He'll...need someone with him. I'll stay wherever you put me, as long as it's safe, and I'll tell you all I can.

[it's not that he's unwilling to talk, but that he didn't want to talk here; not when its safety had been compromised. and not when he was trying to buy time for something that's no longer an option. with it off the table...]

[microbrobotics]

[ Now he has no choice. Now he needs Callaghan's information, because he needs it to get his brother's collar off and he needs it to undo as much damage as he can. Somehow that realization only makes him tired instead of angry. Another mess caused by Callaghan.

He just bows his head, kneeling down by his brother's side. How dare they. How dare they just take his brother, when Tadashi had a family - when they knew the Hamadas were mourning him - ]

Four, take him to one of our safehouses. [ It's just the one, actually, but Fred's mansions has enough rooms they can put him somewhere quiet and pretend. At least until they figure out whether they can trust the guy or not. ]

[tadeadshi]

[His skin twitches on its own at the touch, but he carefully, so so carefully, puts his own hand over Hiro's.

He can't exactly tell him everything. Can't even tell him who he was with or what he was doing. Best to go with the truths he knows he can tell.]

Don't really know where I was. Just... Couldn't get out. Not without help.

[microbrobotics]

[ Story of their lives right now, isn't it? Both of them cutting huge swaths out of the story, or outright lying in Hiro's case. The difference is that Hiro can see those holes easily, whereas Tadashi is still in the dark. It feels strange and wrong, knowing that his brother isn't telling him everything. And knowing too much about what's been left out... ]

The Six helped you. And ... someone else?

[ He's still not convinced Tadashi doesn't have Stockholm's, but he needs to find out the truth about what Callaghan was doing. ]

[tadeadshi]

[He nods. Still doesn't think he should call him by name; Hiro wasn't there during those encounters, wasn't there when the Six eventually caught up with them. His brother just doesn't know, probably only considers Callaghan as the villain who set the fire and was taken to prison after everything else he'd done.]

Someone else. He was brought in to work with me, but. But neither of us wanted to do any of it, so we worked together. Got away.

[He rubs his free hand down his face, looking at everywhere in front of him that isn't Hiro.]

We were trying to fix things before I came back.