Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Fourteen: Protecting Hiro is my job.

Hiro woke to hushed voices whispering around him. Groggily, he moved to stretch and yawn, wincing as he was forcibly reminded of his earlier adventures. "Ow," he uttered under his breath as he wrapped one arm around his torso.

"Sorry." Honey Lemon's voice filtered through the fog in Hiro's brain. "Did we wake you?"

When Hiro opened his eyes again, he saw the Latino staring worriedly at him, her knees bent so she was at his level.

"Hey, Tadashi," Fred called out, "your little bro's awake."

Looking rather like a deer in headlights, Hiro stared in shock, feeling more than a little disoriented. "What? Where am I?" He wrapped his other arm around his middle to try and control his suddenly accelerated breathing.

Tadashi came into view, along with Wasabi and GoGo. "Morning, sleepyhead. You're still at my lab at school. You just dozed off for a while. Need a hand up?" He held out his hand for Hiro to grab.

Various timelines tried to align inside Hiro's head as he stared at the familiar faces around him. It made his head hurt. Even after talking to Baymax about them, he was still having a hard time reconciling everything. He was no closer to understanding how to make things work out to the desired end than he had been before. And his dreams didn't help any either.

Without thinking, Hiro took his brother's hand and slowly stood up, wincing as his muscles protested. It took him a moment to realize he'd been sleeping on the floor. "I need to stop doing that," he said as he turned to look back at the robot behind him. "Definitely not the best place for a nap."

Baymax wobbled to his feet, then stood to attention. "I can deactivate if you say you are satisfied with your care," he said.

That announcement brought a moment of panic for Hiro. He stared at Baymax like he'd gone crazy, but the robot merely blinked at him. It was a subtle reminder that the others didn't need to know he retained memories from other lifetimes. At least not just yet. With some misgivings, he said the words necessary to deactivate the robot. "I am satisfied with my care."

"These are my friends I was talking about," Tadashi said, diverting Hiro's attention from watching the giant marshmallow return to its case. "Everyone, this is my brother, Hiro."

Hiro gave an almost pained smile and a shy little wave as Tadashi's friends all chimed in with a "hello" all at the same time. "Uh, hi." Not sure what else to do, he located the stool from before and sat down. Sitting was easier than standing, especially with his muscles protesting. At least he had his breathing under control once more.

Honey Lemon was the closest to him and started things off. "I'm Honey Lemon," she introduced. "I was hoping to show you some of my experiments but I guess that will have to wait until later, but I know you'll love them!"

GoGo stepped forward next, popping her gum loudly. "Name's GoGo." She had her arms folded. She didn't offer to shake hands. Instead, she gave him a somewhat curious but detached look, which was just fine with Hiro.

Fred moved closer. "I'm Fred," he began.

"School mascot, right?" Hiro interrupted, feeling it was time to have a little fun with this whole time travel thing.

Fred seemed totally floored Hiro knew that. "Whoa! How'd you know that? You psychic or something, little dude?"

Hiro resisted the urge to laugh. Laughing was not a good idea. Instead, he tried to keep a straight face. "You just seem the type. You know, dressing up in a cool costume, maybe a lizard or something similar."

"That's totally right!" Fred was almost jumping up and down in excitement. "I've always wanted to become a fire-breathing lizard that can transform at will. I've asked Honey Lemon if she could make me a formula to do just that but she keeps telling me that it's "not science"." He let out a wistful sigh.