![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
[When Professor Callaghan was arrested, a lot changed. He admitted to everything, causing the fire, stealing Hiro's tech... everything. But the last thing he told the police was a shock to everyone.
Tadashi was alive.
As he had used the mircobots to protect himself from the flames, he had watched Tadashi entered the burning building. But the blast happened, faster than he expected. He did what he could to protect his student, but there was only so much he could do as the explosion of flames rippled through the building.
Tadashi was hurt. Badly. The burns to his arms, legs, and chest were pretty severe, but nothing medical care and a lot of therapy couldn't fix. He would have limits, but if he pushed himself and kept following his therapy, he had a chance to be close to what he was before.
Only, the burns weren't the only problem. When the blast hit, it sent him flying, knocking him back. And hard.
The swelling on his brain was more of a concern than the burns, to put it nicely. He was comatose for a time. The doctors feared he might not even wake. But he proved them wrong. One day, completely out of the blue, he woke up.
"Who am I?" isn't exactly the first thing anyone wants to hear out of a trauma patient, especially a John Doe like him, but it was progress.
Little things came back with time. He couldn't explain why, but he liked fiddling with electronics. The nurses were kind enough to bring him little things to work on, encouraging him to move more and build his strength back up. He was also fond of one of the other kids in the hospital. He was a hyper little thing, despite being sick, and his favorite thing ever was his toy robot. Maybe he couldn't explain it, but something about it felt right.
But then the attack on the Krei Tech campus hit the news. Callaghan was arrested, and when he talked, he told them where he had taken Tadashi. He had left him anonymously at the ER so he could be seen to, not wanting to let him die. He would've said something before if he could, but it would've given away his plans and he couldn't do that.
Needless to say, the hospital was contacted and a meet was set up.
Tadashi was speechless, to say the least. Months of being clueless, of not knowing who he was... it had been terrible. He knew he had a family out there somewhere, but now that they were coming?
He couldn't help but be nervous. He didn't remember his own name, let alone his family. What were they like?
The minutes leading up to their arrival felt like hours.
Tadashi was alive.
As he had used the mircobots to protect himself from the flames, he had watched Tadashi entered the burning building. But the blast happened, faster than he expected. He did what he could to protect his student, but there was only so much he could do as the explosion of flames rippled through the building.
Tadashi was hurt. Badly. The burns to his arms, legs, and chest were pretty severe, but nothing medical care and a lot of therapy couldn't fix. He would have limits, but if he pushed himself and kept following his therapy, he had a chance to be close to what he was before.
Only, the burns weren't the only problem. When the blast hit, it sent him flying, knocking him back. And hard.
The swelling on his brain was more of a concern than the burns, to put it nicely. He was comatose for a time. The doctors feared he might not even wake. But he proved them wrong. One day, completely out of the blue, he woke up.
"Who am I?" isn't exactly the first thing anyone wants to hear out of a trauma patient, especially a John Doe like him, but it was progress.
Little things came back with time. He couldn't explain why, but he liked fiddling with electronics. The nurses were kind enough to bring him little things to work on, encouraging him to move more and build his strength back up. He was also fond of one of the other kids in the hospital. He was a hyper little thing, despite being sick, and his favorite thing ever was his toy robot. Maybe he couldn't explain it, but something about it felt right.
But then the attack on the Krei Tech campus hit the news. Callaghan was arrested, and when he talked, he told them where he had taken Tadashi. He had left him anonymously at the ER so he could be seen to, not wanting to let him die. He would've said something before if he could, but it would've given away his plans and he couldn't do that.
Needless to say, the hospital was contacted and a meet was set up.
Tadashi was speechless, to say the least. Months of being clueless, of not knowing who he was... it had been terrible. He knew he had a family out there somewhere, but now that they were coming?
He couldn't help but be nervous. He didn't remember his own name, let alone his family. What were they like?
The minutes leading up to their arrival felt like hours.
1/2
electric shocks are familiar territory for anyone who plays around with electronics — come on, all those wires and coding to do? it happens to literally everyone. sometimes if you're unlucky and don't make your wire configuration clean enough, the entire bot will go up in flames — there's a reason every workshop has a fire extinguisher in easy reaching distance. aunt cass got tadashi one for his tenth birthday. and then for hiro on his seventh, and eighth, and twelfth. look, it's price of experimentation, okay? you gotta be ready for the occasional trip to the ER and overuse of band-aids. point is, hiro's used to shocks.
this was like having the air punched out of him. he'd called callaghan a liar. uh, actually, he'd called callaghan a lot of things, some of which had made honey lemon yell "hiro!" and reminded him that as far as aunt cass knows, he's never heard language like that before.
(hahah, about that. a lot of bot fighters could use a mouth-washing with soap, especially after getting beat by boys a third of their size.)
speaking of aunt cass, she wanted to come today. well, she is here, but waiting in the lobby; the doctors had said something about overstimulation and taking it slow, so she'd agreed to wait. hiro almost wishes she'd insisted on going first. of course he wants to see tadashi and all, but...
too late for buts, actually, as he's ushered into tadashi's hospital room.]
Uh.
[says and swallows, before even looking up. okay, but what if this is a mistake? he doesn't really think callaghan would lie about it, not after they'd saved abigail, but he doesn't know what he'd do if he'd come all this for someone who isn't...tadashi. they'd told him and aunt cass about the memory loss already, which is another level of terror. even if it is tadashi, he won't remember him. or recognize him. what if he doesn't even remember their special fistbump?
...is that worse than not having tadashi at all?
that one's easy: no.]
H-hey, Ta — [he actually looks at tadashi this time, and his voice gets stuck somewhere in his throat.] Tadashi.
no subject
he runs a hand through his hair distractedly, suddenly a lot more fidgety; scuffs the flooring with his sneakers.]
I mean, uh...long time no see.
no subject
Everything was going to take time, it seemed. He wouldn't have to spend most of his time in a wheelchair forever, he wouldn't be stuck in the compression suit forever, but he wouldn't get rid of either without time. Even the doctor's seemed hopeful his memory would return with time, just not immediately. It wouldn't be easy, but he was finding all that seemed easier now that he was finding out who he was. More than that, he was finding his family.
When he heard his name, he turned to the source of the voice, focusing on the boy that entered the room. For a moment, he said nothing, taking in every detail of the child that was supposedly his brother. A genius, he learned. It hadn't been hard to find articles on him, after all. The kid created a mind controlled microbot and got into college at fourteen. It was amazing. He was proud to find out he was related to him.
Maybe he didn't remember details, but something about Hiro just felt...right. And that put him more at ease.]
You must be Hiro. I've heard a lot about you. [Said with a smile. He picks up easily on Hiro's nerves. He didn't know if the kid was always this fidgety, but he certainly was just that now. He couldn't imagine how hard this had to be for him. To lose him, then suddenly get him back? And he didn't remember anything? As hard as this was for himself, it had to be even worse for Hiro.
So he does what any good big brother would do: he teases to lighten the mood.]
When they told me you were in college, I was expecting someone a little....taller. [he honestly hopes he's not pushing it, he doesn't know how his relationship with his brother actually was. But it feels right, he just hopes he wasn't mistaken.]
no subject
that...hurts. hiro doesn't step backwards or anything, but there's kind of a shift to his weight a little bit further away. memory loss, right. it kind of reminds him of baymax without tadashi's green chip, or any bot when the controller's been cut off. people aren't robots; he knows, he knows. but even though tadashi's right here, for the first time in a long time, it feels...wrong. there's no recognition. he'd even take being yelled at about something, like bot fighting or nerd school or making their aunt worry too much again, or falling asleep in weird places and unbalancing and giving everyone a heart attack.
not like tadashi looks like he's in any kind of shape to do...a whole lot, even though it's been months since the fire. not like that's surprising; hiro saw it, was literally thrown backwards by the force of the blast. and he hadn't even been in the building. it's not like he wishes he were or anything, not as much as he wishes he'd done more. couldn't he have been more convincing to keep tadashi from running in like that? argued with him for just a minute or two more? tadashi's gotten him out of countless scrapes, and when it's hiro's turn to step up — nothing. failure.]
Yeah? Like what? [probably the basics, he thinks. name, age, and stuff like that. so he raises his eyebrows when tadashi mentions college, and opens his mouth to answer, and — wow, not cool. he kind of makes an offended sputtering noise, going from crestfallen to irritated in under two seconds flat.] What? — hey! Did they tell you that I'm the cooler brother, 'cause if not you're even more behind than I thought.
no subject
I had time to do some research. You've really made a name for yourself in the robotics community. I'm impressed. [for a fourteen year old, it was very impressive. Once Callaghan had confessed, they had explained the accident to him, so he knew he had attended the same college as Hiro, studying robotics as well. And given his knack for tinkering, it made sense. But it was clearly Hiro that got the brains, between the two of them.]
Now that, I definitely didn't hear. Please, enlighten me. [He says it in a joking manner, but in all honestly...he wants to hear more about Hiro. There was only so much he could find online. He wants to know everything, about him, about himself. So by all means, Hiro, feel free to be outlandish in your story telling now.]
no subject
just a little; because when tadashi laughs, it's almost like nothing happened. it almost makes hiro smile even though he'd been snapping just a second before. talk about mood swings — it'd be enough to make baymax try to fix them by giving hiro a heart attack again. and then tadashi praises him, and it feels...weird. not bad-weird. it's good-weird, especially when what he's done is laid out like that. hiro's never made any of his inventions or done any of his school stuff to impress anyone, exactly — except for that presentation to get into college, but that was a special case — but his big brother calling it impressive means more than it coming from anyone else in the world.
tadashi agreeing so readily is weird too. sure, hiro will call himself the cooler brother a lot of the time, but...that's really tadashi. his big brother always has the best ideas and comes up with the most awesome stuff — just look at baymax. yeah, hiro makes cool stuff too, but a lot of his most successful ideas go back to tadashi. he wouldn't have even gotten into college without his older brother.]
If you did research, I bet you didn't hear about the bot fighting. [that's definitely the note he wants to start on.] Oh man, I should've brought mine — it's so sick; everyone thinks bigger is better but that just means more openings...
[he can and will go on for a while, but even though it's excited babble about BOT FIGHTING of all things, he clearly shows a lot of understanding about the make of robots, and interrupts himself a few times to note "you showed me that one time" or "we figured this out when we tried to make something"]
no subject
They weren't kidding, you sure do know a lot about robotics. [It's really.. hard, the more Hiro talks. When he starts mentioning the things Tadashi taught him, or things they did together... it's painful, not being able to remember those things. He wanted more than anything to have those memories back, but there was no telling when he would, if ever. But he does his best to keep it positive, to reassure the child in a big-brother kind of way.]
With that big brain of yours, you could really change the world.
no subject
[he yelps that kind of reflexively, which is definitely the way to convince his brother that he's not doing anything illegal. but he's a little disappointed, if he's being honest. if this were a movie — and it's not, hiro knows, okay, he's not a stupid little kid — but tadashi would've remembered getting angry about the bot fighting and started to lecture hiro about it, and —
okay, okay. stupid.]
You always say that.
no subject
I do? [A moment of silence pauses as he processes this, then offers a small smile.]
Then maybe...maybe I haven't forgotten as much as it seems.
[Which reminds him! He holds up a finger to Hiro, then starts to wheel his chair around to one of his desks, pulling out a handful of loose papers. After setting those in his lap, he wheels back around, before offering the papers to Hiro.]
I dream. Since I woke up, they're always...vivid. The doctor thought they might be memories, so I tried to draw what I could remember. Is any of that...familiar to you?
[If Hiro dares to look, a lot of the sketches are just random doodles that don't add up, but if he looks close enough, he'll notice a few are familiar. A couple look like different projects the brothers had built together over the years, one looks an awful lot like one of Hiro's microbots, but most significantly are the multiple drawings that look exactly like Baymax's face.
The seconds after he hands them over are painstaking. He wrings his hands, wondering if he's crazy for thinking those might have a link to his past. He almost regrets deciding to show Hiro five seconds later, because if nothing added up, then he might have gotten his hopes up for nothing. That would make him feel even more terrible. This was an awful enough situation, he hoped he didn't just make it worse, but he had to know if anything was really still there in his head.]
no subject
but if callahagn hadn't set the fire, tadashi wouldn't have been in danger in the first place, or almost died, or lost his memory, or —
it's so messed up. if krei hadn't let abigail go into an unstable portal, callahagn wouldn't have become the revenge-obsessed monster he is. but abigail hadn't gone in unwillingly either, and she hadn't even died. maybe if callahagn had spent all that time working with krei to research portals, they could've found her sooner. maybe baymax wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself for that rescue. if krei had practiced safer science, maybe none of this would've happened. maybe callahagn would've turned out like this anyway. maybe the problem was looking for someone to blame instead of trying to do the right thing. just thinking about it is enough to give him a headache.
he starts just a little when tadashi answers, because the smile, and the optimistic response — of course — catches him off-guard. he watches curiously as tadashi brings the papers over, picking them up when they're offered. at first, he doesn't see anything besides the doodles that don't really mean anything. but he is looking, really looking, and maybe he just wants to see familiarity because he starts to — the microbot, one of the many times they tried to get mochi in rocket shoes, and —
just to be clear, he doesn't cry or anything when he sees baymax's face (over and over, as he flips through the papers), but there's a very real, kind of wobbly smile that takes over his face. he has to breathe in and out once or twice just to steady himself, before he speaks up.]
Y — yeah. Yeah. Some of it is familiar. You made some of this stuff, Tadashi. [there's a joke he could maybe make about tadashi remembering their projects before remembering him, but right now...they feel like one and the same thing.] It looks like you really are remembering.
no subject
But even more than that, he was glad for Hiro. He didn't know which was worst, forgetting or being the one forgotten. So this was progress, this was hope, for the both of them.]
So it's not nonsense? [He has to stifle a laugh at that, as he looks over Hiro's shoulder at the papers.]
At least tell me I didn't actually put rocket boots on a cat.
no subject
Three times. At least. It actually worked the last time...and then we realized we forgot about brakes. Mochi wouldn't come near either of us for a month.
glares at those broken icons
We did? Are you serious? [no brakes, good grief he can't even imagine the chaos that caused. It feels...vaguely familiar, like a dream, but that's more than he's had to cling to since-- well, since he could remember anything, and that makes him want to keep Hiro talking.]
What else have we built together? [He noticed that "we" there.] Hopefully our other inventions were a little more... cat-friendly.
no subject
[hiro's shoulders hunch up and he kind of grimaces. he's trying hard to sound convincing, really; he just sucks at it.]
I did it 8D
Honey had volunteered to go in their stead, making a huge card where everyone had written their well-wishes and baking a box of brownies that Tadashi can eat when he's able (Plus, she's believes that eating one might help him remember. She's an optimist through and through). If all else fails, she also has her phone tucked in her pocket. It had a lot of pictures of the Lucky Cat Cafe, their school, their friends, even Mochi, the beloved Hamada family cat. Armed with these, Honey just hopes this was enough, that maybe it'll spark something in his memory.
Hope is really all that she has.
Her face brightens instantly when she spots him, giving him a little wave before going in and gently closing the door behind her, shifting her hold on the box and the card.]
Hi, Tadashi. [Her voice was soft.] How are you doing today?
yay 8D
When she comes in, he had actually just gotten up from his wheelchair to the side of his bed. Crutches were propped up against the bed, and the compression suit he's wearing under his t-shirt and pajama pants is as visible as ever.
At first, he pauses. It's hard, adjusting to knowing who he is, to see these people that clearly know him. There's a familiarity about the girl that came in, but any hint of a memory flitters away before he can grasp at it.
He offers a smile and nods in acknowledgement of her arrival.]
You must be Honey Lemon. [A beat, before she can think he remembered her name on his own. He doesn't want to give her false hope, after all.] Hiro told me you were coming.
[He pauses again, this time chuckling as he considers how to answer that loaded of a question.]
Better? Today's been... a lot. But in a good way. [that's the best he can come up with, and it's completely the truth. Learning who you are is a lot to take in, but he couldn't be happier that he found his family at last.]