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

[microbrobotics]

[ That concept he understands immediately. And he even gets what Callaghan didn't say about Abigail. Better to accept something long before that point, than to risk someone really important ...

He stays silent for a long moment, trying to think through all this. He understands, now, but that's not the same as forgiveness. Not by a longshot. ]

Obsessed with the kid who took you down, huh? ... Good thing they didn't know about Abigail or they would've known better.

[ Fortunately for Callaghan, Tadashi was never ever a "kid" in Hiro's eyes, so he doesn't make the connection. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[Callaghan considers correcting Hiro.

he things better of it, and does, at least, glance back since it seems like Hiro's not about to press]

If they knew about Abigail, then I'd have been theirs completely.

I...hope you can understand why I couldn't let it get to that point.

[microbrobotics]

I understand.

[ But he doesn't offer anything more than that. There's still residual resentment in his eyes. A glance down at his left arm. He knows all too well how bad their tech arms race got on his side of thing, especially once Cal came into the picture.

After a long moment of silence, though, he relents a little. Just a fraction. ]

Abigail's doing well. We catch up sometimes.

[pushtheboundaries]

[and even that tiny allowance has a noticeable effect on Callaghan's mood. he actually smiles, some of the tension dropping out of his shoulders as he rests a hand on the couch]

Can you tell me about her?

[microbrobotics]

[ He's not sure if that makes him feel good or not. Callaghan smiling about anything. ]

She's fine? She's still employed at Krei Tech, but I think it's mostly Krei paying her and then not really using her. That's boring, so ... Mostly she comes over to SFIT to help out with student projects. We've worked together a lot on my prosthetic project.

[ There's a hint of ... something in his tone. Not a promise, but possibility. If Abigail is close with Hiro's group, then arranging a visit isn't out of the question. He's not quite cold enough to offer it as a bribe, but he knows the effect it might have. A tactical suggestion - for a more willing prisoner. ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[it's not all the things he wanted to hear - hearing she's working at Krei Tech, for example, has him swallowing down a bit of bile that threatens to come up - but he does nod. ironically, the thought of a visit isn't what first comes to mind.]

I...appreciate you keeping an eye on her.

[Callaghan's considered himself unable to look his daughter in the eye for some time, however desperately he misses her.]

She's clever; I'm sure be able to offer some insight, if she hasn't already.

[microbrobotics]

[ That's ... not quite the reaction he expected. Not that he knew what to expect, but surely it wasn't that. He ha to pause for a moment and recalculate. ]

'course. I guess we're friends, by now. We wouldn't let her get hurt anyway.

[ A very faint smile at that. ]

Sure did. Not a bad at building stuff herself.

[pushtheboundaries]

She's my daughter, I hope you weren't expecting someone sloppy as Fred. We spoke, a couple times, before...

[and he trails off. before the mob. he only lets the silence linger for a moment before rushing to fill it;]

How much does she know?

[microbrobotics]

[ He makes a face. His own Aunt doesn't even know what her nephew does after hours; of course Abigail's been told nothing. ]

Nothing. Other than you apparently escaping from jail, but that was all over the news. We don't involve anyone in our secret identities who didn't know already.

[pushtheboundaries]

[that's not quite what he meant. it was part of it, but by the sideways look he gives Hiro, there's more to it.]

I'd expect that much is public knowledge. I suppose I should have asked...how much is still...on the news.

[he tried to keep things relatively quiet, with himself and Tadashi- the more attention they got, the more likely one of their perceived threats would home in on them. for the most part they were able to stick to the shadows, with Callaghan wearing the 'Yokai' mask in those circumstances attention was unavoidable-

-hell, in some cases he did it on purpose. to bring the police's attention to something they needed to see, and if they assumed it was his, well, it wasn't like he was trying to improve his reputation.]

[microbrobotics]

[ That he's less sure about. He'd scanned news site, of course, but not really gone into much depth. It hardly seemed necessary. ]

Still not much. I mean, not out in the open. We attract way more attention than the mob does, so there's not much point in me watching the news.

... You showed up a couple times though. Not enough to help us track you down. You kept your trail pretty cold.

[pushtheboundaries]

[that's something, at least. he tries to think of how diligent Abigail is in terms of keeping up on current events...and all he can think about is her when she was younger, alternating between cartoons and the Discovery channel.

he looks away again, smiling humorlessly]

I had to keep us safe.

[microbrobotics]

While you ... dismantled your work, right? That's what you were doing when we found you.

[ Another twitch of that left arm. He can't help it. ]

Give us the list and we'll finish it.

[pushtheboundaries]

[he nods at that...and then goes quiet. it would be easy to collaborate with them; more than that, it would be easy to simply wash his hands of it all. let them take care of everything, let them take over, while he...while he...]

...and then what?

[microbrobotics]

[ And then we burn the rest of Yama's operation to the ground, but he senses that isn't Callaghan's actual question. His expression hardens again as he looks Cal up and down. ]

I don't know. Depends, I guess.

[pushtheboundaries]

[he's quiet. still. not looking at Hiro. in the end, his first motion is to move his hand towards his face, swallowing as he tries to get his voice steady enough to speak...]

Most of my notes were back at the safehouse. I imagine they're still there, unless you brought them out. But I...have to admit, the idea of just...running from this...

[...he doesn't like it. he hates it, in fact. he's done too much, caused to much, to get off nearly that easily- he has a duty, here to himself and the world, to clean up this mess with his own hands. to do everything he can, to spend the rest of his life trying to find some sort of atonement...

and how would he even put that in to words? how can he admit that he all but sold his soul, in there, and can do no less than an endless and, perhaps, vain trial to earn it back?]

[microbrobotics]

The others brought over everything that was left.

[ And then Wasabi organized it all, bless his neat freak heart. Hiro wouldn't have had that kind of patience for sure. As for the rest ... What the hell is Callaghan even playing at here? It sounds suspiciously like he wants to help, which flies in the face of everything else Hiro's experienced of him so far. ]

What do you want to do? We're not letting you take any of that tech back. You've done enough damage.

[pushtheboundaries]

I know, I'm not going to ask you to- why do you think I spread it all out there? As for what I want...

[he wants to be able to look his daughter in the face and not feel shame. hell, he'd settle for being able to look Hiro in the face, at least for longer than a few seconds, he wants to balance all of his sins...]

...I want a lot of things, Hiro. Most of them I can't have, or I don't deserve. But...I don't want to leave this unfinished.

[and he sags a bit against the couch]

...I've got a lot of things I need to make right.

[microbrobotics]

[ Funny, Hiro almost believes him like that. It's a hard thing to even partially admit to himself that the guy he's spent most of the last two years quietly hating might ... not be so bad? Might be able to help? Maybe it's not even that foreign of a concept. Imprisonment is in theory about rehabilitation, or it should be. Would it really be such a bad thing to make this guy clean up his own crimes directly?

Hiro sucks in a breath and clenches his hands. The pain shooting through his left wrist bitters his tone again, though he's at least considering the proposition. ]

Yeah. You do.

... We don't have any reason to trust you, Professor.

[pushtheboundaries]

[to that - both of that, really - he can only nod, closing his eyes for a long moment.]

I know.

[ironically, it means he did his job while 'with' the mafia exceedingly well. abandon all hope for the chance of getting Tadashi free.

he opens his eyes slowly, managing to look towards Hiro.]

Maybe it's best we call it a day for now, unless you had any other pressing questions. Tadashi...he won't always voice it, but as long as you pay attention, it's not hard to figure out what he needs at any given time.

[or maybe it's just him getting familiar with the 'language'. they have.]

[microbrobotics]

[ A wince from Hiro at that. ]

Don't tell me how to talk to my brother. I know him better than you do.

[ But that stab of jealousy won't stop him from taking that advice into account; he wants his brother as happy as possible, dammit, even if that means accepting Callaghan's help. In fact, come to think of it ... his brother had been awful worried about the professor. It would probably benefit Tadashi to be able to see Callaghan again. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. ]

Does he know? What you did?

[pushtheboundaries]

[...

to that? Callaghan just nods, and looks away again, finding something particularly interesting about the artwork on the side wall.

his hand on the couch, however? it's clenching hard enough for the knuckles to begin to turn white]

[microbrobotics]

[ No, he's not going to take that for an answer. He needs to know for sure before he lets his brother get anywhere near this guy. He takes a step forward, into Cal's line of sight, so he can't be ignored. ]

About the fire? He knows that all of this is your fault, right?

[pushtheboundaries]

[at first, Callaghan seems like he's going to continue avoiding Hiro; then there's a subtle shift. an imperceptible squaring of his shoulders, a tightening of his jaw, the almost blanking of features even as he meets Hiro's gaze. and when he speaks, the voice is short, clipped, and flat.]

Yes, he knows.

[that look of betrayal will be burned in to his memory forever, as will Tadashi's coping mechanism that night.]

[microbrobotics]

[ And yet Tadashi still cares for this man. God. Hiro can't suppress a look of revulsion - but his brother is his brother. And now it's clear to Hiro that he has to let the two of them meet up again, even though he hates it. Goddamn it all to hell.

He takes a step back after a moment. And nods. There is one more thing he can check to make sure Cal's telling the truth. ]

We found their security footage, by the way. Of the room you and he were in. So if you're lying about anything, I'm going to find out real quick.