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

[pushtheboundaries]

[Hiro'd outright call him a liar if he dared bring that up. sometimes the truth isn't the right answer, but the promise of jail...

well, it's not hard to see the tightening of his jaw, the stiffening of his posture. Baymax, were he paying attention, would be able to notice the elevation in heartbeat; these are distress responses, even fear.]

There are far more merciful ways to kill me, Mister Hamada!

[if Yama got him out once - without cooperation - then there's no doubt he could get someone in to 'take care' of him. and he'd have every reason to, with how much of a thorn Yokai's been since slipping the leash, he'd probably relish it.

Callaghan just hopes the shock is enough to pull Hiro's attention back to him, because he doesn't want to risk looking behind and see what Hiro might have noticed]

[microbrobotics]

[ Baymax turns to Hiro, in fact, to confirm just that. But now Hiro's gone stock still for another reason. His name. Callaghan just called him by his name, out in the open where anyone could hear. So Cal's got Hiro's attention again, whether that was how he'd intended it or not.

A fearful response but using his name? What kind of game is Callaghan playing at? Hiro doesn't like it, not one bit. ]

We're going to put you somewhere safe. No killing. Which is better than what you're doing.

[ A modulated hiss on that last phrase. Shut up about his name right now or else. ]

[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. ]

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.

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]

[ 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. ]

[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. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[better their safehouses than his own. as Fred - 'Four' - approaches, Callaghan only nods and lets himself be maneuvered how he will. he tries to keep his movements deliberate, especially since he's not resigned to prison, and there is, perhaps, a glimmer of hope.

at Four's method of transport, however, there may be a bit of nausea. if Fred is doing this on purpose to make him sick he's doing a fine job of it. by the time they arrive at the safehouse- actually a guest house on the grounds- he's far too wobbly to do much more than let himself be led inside and collapse on the couch, making a few vague sounds of acknowledgement at the not-quite-suggestion to stay inside. he knows his position, he knows where he stands, he knows that he's on thin ice right now but maybe how about a bit of rest right now...

when he recovers, he does a bit of exploration, and finds it more comfortable than anything he's had since...well, even before his old condo. there's not much in terms of changes of clothes, but he can get clean, at least, and the armored coat is hung up in the closet. metaphorically removing his few remaining defenses, but...

you know what, no. he takes off everything. if they're going to trust him, then he has to show trust in them, and that involves disarming himself completely. the closet remains open, displaying as such; the simple mechanics of the devices weren't damaged by the EMP, but then again, that wasn't his only EMP. the armory is spread out on the table - the dart-launcher, the bracer-jammer-interface-unit, the few other 'grenades', a pair of small knives...

and that's just what he can throw on in a hurry. to be fair, the coat has pockets.

nonetheless, once that's all out for perusal, he settles back down on the couch with a notepad and begins jotting some things down. mostly trying to organize his thoughts, and how to phrase the things they Need to know as opposed to the things...the things he's only so certain about.]

[microbrobotics]

[ It's late in the day by the time Hiro visits. Of course Fred's been by since then, and Heathcliff has made sure that their "guest" has plenty to eat and drink, so it's really quite pleasant. Fred sending in his manservant sure does shred the last bit of secrecy about where Robert is being housed ... but really, does he want to go anywhere else right now?

Hiro knocks once, impatiently, before opening the door to come in. He looks tired but not despairing, so Tadashi must be as fine as he can be, given the circumstances. Now that he's no longer wearing his armor, the effect of the past few years is a lot more obvious. He's taller, for starters, nearing 5'5" and gangly as all hell. Short hair, cut in a way that was probably neat at first but now a mess again. Some small amount of muscle development, though of the Six Hiro's the one with the least amount of physical demand inherent in his role. Still: older. More scarred. And there's that stiff arm too.

He takes a look around the room to make sure Cal hasn't escaped - and his gaze immediately falls to the arsenal sitting out in front of him. Where - dammit, Fred. He should have reminded him to check Callaghan for weapons. ]

Is that everything?

[pushtheboundaries]

[Heathcliff's politeness is right on the edge of frigidity, but he's professional enough to not get on Callaghan's nerves. in turn, Callaghan is sure to say 'thank you', and to keep his questions to the neutral sort, the kind that doesn't require any sort of information being risked; is it possible to get another shirt. a book, if he'll be staying long. where the pens and paper were in the first place....

he's comfortable, physically, when Hiro arrives. mentally he's fretting and concerned and, yes, has already considered a few escape plans- but all of that is pushed aside as he looks up and gets his first really good look at Hiro, sans armor. he's seen him from a distance, seen him in that armor, of course, but...

Callaghan himself seems to have aged ten years in two, at least in his face. plenty of new lines, and some of them are, in fact, scars. one by his eye, record of a narrow escape- another at his chin. and yet he is fit, with a body the envy of someone half his age. the lifestyle has reduced what fat he has to muscle, and he's far leaner than he was...and he looks old when he shifts on the couch, leaning forwards while remaining seated]

Everything I had on me at the time.

[sans his own body, but not much to do disarming that. please note that he's chosen things that the arsenal is far closer to Hiro than it is him; he could try for some of it, but it's doubtful he'd reach it before Hiro could.]

How is...?

[no points for guessing whom he's referring to]

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro may be smaller than Callaghan, but he has his youth and his speed on his side. Plus - well, a couple other tricks up his sleeve in case something goes horribly wrong, but there's no visible evidence of that on his person right now. He just snorts a little and makes a note to take all of that garbage with him. The trust being exhibited here isn't lost on him either, though quite frankly it seems to him that that's the least Callaghan can do in this situation.

He looks the professor up and down, seeing those new lines. He frowns faintly, almost concerned. As much as he hates Callaghan, it's strange seeing him look so old. It reminds him of Tadashi, those mental scars being so bad that they've left a physical impact behind as well. Speaking of which. ]

He's fine. As fine as he can be. Baymax is monitoring him 24/7.

[pushtheboundaries]

Good.

[and he does seem pleased with that, or at least satisfied, by the way some of the tension seems to bleed out of him. Tadashi's old creation, his old healthcare companion...hell, it makes all the notes Callaghan's taken seem superfluous. he looks down at them for a moment, turning them over, then back up, intent again]

The mob will be looking for him. You either need to not broadcast he's alive, or be prepared for some attempts on his life. Or both, and more.

[microbrobotics]

[ He's in good hands for sure. Plus, Baymax has Tadashi's vitals routed straight into Hiro's phone, so the first moment something seems wrong Hiro will be rushing back to his house. For now, though, everything is relatively normal. He's extremely serious, facing Callaghan like this. Almost grave. Certainly graver than a kid his age should be, but then again it's been a long two years. ]

You think I don't know that? They've been surveilling the cafe ever since Yama's little battlebot takeover failed. I've got defenses in place.

[pushtheboundaries]

Then consider this reinforcement of the fact that until Yama's taken down, your family is not safe.

[and if Callaghan can understand anything, it's Family. he pauses for a moment to let that sink in, then continues;]

I've got notes on the collar here, along with what tweaks were my own. And- before you even ask, no, I wasn't the on to design that thing. I just did what I could, and I'm hoping you can do better.

[he rips off the paper and then considers. he's not sure if Hiro wants to approach him directly, so he's making to set it down on the coffee table and nudge it forward. still a bit of a walk, but if Hiro wants a barrier, there it is.

in all truth, Callaghan doesn't mind having such.]

[microbrobotics]

[ He knew that - had been subtly messing with their tapes and had already set some loops to play until he could figure out some better ways to make Tadashi invisible to their cameras - but it's still hard to hear. All of this over one bot fight. If Yama ever found out that the little punk that humiliated him and the armored superhero dismantling his mob empire were the same person ...

Hell, if they even found Tadashi again. Going down this train of thought too far just makes everything hurt.

So, that collar drawing is a welcome distract. He eyes it suspiciously - and Callaghan makes the right move in not bringing it directly over to HIro. They're not close enough for that. And as much as Hiro needs to not be friendly with his brother's "murderer," Callaghan prooobably doesn't need to see the kid who tried to kill him get close either. ]

... Why? Why do you care?

[ That sentence almost makes it past his mouth without any bite to it. Almost. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

...because Tadashi didn't deserve any of what happened to him.

[he didn't deserve to go after someone who hadn't thought anyone would try and save him, he didn't deserve to nearly die in the process, he didn't deserve to be picked up by the mob and forced to make weapons, he didn't deserve...anything...that happened in there, and he deserved far better choices than Callaghan made in the name of getting them out of there...

Callaghan swallows, reaches up, and rubs his forehead]

And...I suppose I was hoping that I could bring back your brother like you did my daughter, just...not in this condition.