Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Seventeen: Shaken Confidence

Safely back at the café, Hiro slumped against the swivel chair in his room, more than glad for the rest. Even though Tadashi had had him ride in front on the moped, he'd felt a need to hold himself as upright as possible, something that had made his back hurt. The released pressure was a relief so intense he closed his eyes, not realizing his brother had left the room until he came back.

When Hiro looked up, he noticed Tadashi was holding out an ice pack. Not only that, but Baymax was observing him carefully from several meters away. He supposed he must have momentarily dozed off or something, maybe because of the narcotics still running rampant in his system. They had made him feel rather loopy.

"Make sure he keeps the ice on for twenty minutes," Tadashi instructed Baymax as he wrapped the pack in a towel before placing it on Hiro's chest. "Forty off and twenty on until he goes to bed."

Wait. Wasn't Tadashi going to stick around? "Where are you going?" Hiro asked, coming back to his senses as he realized he was holding the ice pack in place without having thought about doing it.

Tadashi moved to grab his helmet. "Although Baymax is my main project, I do have other things to work on," he admonished his brother with a ruffle of his hair. "I've got a lot of homework to catch up on and a group project waiting on me." He paused at the look Hiro gave him. "Don't worry. You're in good hands. I'll be back before you know it." With that, he headed down the stairs.

Once his brother was out of sight, Hiro discarded the ice pack, tossing it on the bed. Even though he was still a bit loopy, he had things to do as well so he pulled out his notebook, which he'd stashed safely in a drawer before adventure number two had begun.

"I highly recommend reapplying the ice pack," Baymax said. "The inflammation will not easily go down with it its help."

But Hiro was already too distracted to give it much thought. "Uh huh, sure," he mumbled as he grabbed a pencil and continued to sketch out the schematics he'd been working on earlier. He wasn't even sure he knew why was doing it, other than that it was something to do. At least it kept his mind off of other things.

Baymax shuffled closer to look over his shoulder. "Are you planning on rebuilding your tiny robots?" he inquired, recognizing the designs.

Hiro sighed, putting the pencil down. "I don't know. It just came into my head. Part of me wants to say no, but another part says yes. Either way, I can't do it on my own. You probably heard Tadashi give out instructions on my 'continued care'." He said the last part a bit bitterly. "I'm not supposed to do any kind of heavy lifting. In Tadashi's mind, I'm sure that means nothing over three kilograms. That and I'm 'supposed to' take it easy anyway."

He spun the chair to face the room in general, running one hand idly along the edge of the work table to one side, more for something to do than for anything else. He'd always liked to keep moving, even if it was just a finger brushing something. It meant he was at least doing something, though there were the rare occasions when it was easier to just flop down on the bed and do nothing. The last time he'd done that was after Tadashi had died in the first time line.

Thinking about that incident made his chest constrict, his heart to beat just a bit faster. Here he was, given yet another chance to make things right, and he was in no condition to do much of anything about it. But wait. "That's it!" Hiro called out excitedly. "If I don't do anything, Tadashi won't die in the fire because there won't be any reason for him to be there! If I don't enter the showcase, there won't be any microbots for Callaghan to steal so there won't be a fire even if he does go to the showcase."

Baymax seemed to observe Hiro's changing moods. "Are you certain you do not wish to enter the showcase?" he finally asked. "Joining your friends at the university was a major milestone in our previous timeline. Is it wise to try and undo that?"

That gave Hiro pause, because, deep down, he knew Baymax was right. Being accepted into SFIT was a big milestone for him. He'd been well on his way to getting his degree. Not only that, but he'd advanced his knowledge in ways he'd never thought possible. Of course, what he'd learned still stuck with him, but it might call into question from those who didn't know his circumstances, which meant everyone. That wouldn't work either.

Not to mention that the achievement would feel a bit hollow, with the dynamic of his friendship with the others being different. He wasn't sure if it was worth the effort or not.

"I don't know," he sighed again. "Just when I thought I'd figured out a way to make things work last time, Callaghan kidnapped Tadashi and shot us both. I guess I could go back and reevaluate what happened to see what I did wrong, but I'm not sure how well that will work either."

Baymax picked up the ice pack and placed it back on Hiro's chest. "You are not alone," he reminded. "Something will work out."

Hiro patted Baymax on the arm, not bothering to remove the pack once more. It wasn't worth the effort. "I hope you're right, buddy."

........................

By the time Tadashi returned home, Hiro was sound asleep. The older Hamada was a bit surprised to see the bean bag chair had moved to replace his brother's pillow, but decided it was a good arrangement. It kept Hiro upright but comfortable, with little risk of slipping to one side or the other. Part of him wondered why he hadn't thought of doing that the night before.

Tadashi let out a rather tired yawn, glad to see his brother actually sleeping. "That's a relief," he said to the air. He'd half expected to see Hiro absorbed in whatever project he'd been working on before the doctor visit. Thinking about that, he wondered just what it was. He'd only caught the briefest of peeks before Hiro'd hidden it away.

"Hello Tadashi," Baymax greeted softly from his charging station, causing the college student to jump a little. He blinked at the inventor. "I did not mean to startle you."

Hand to his heart, Tadashi slowly turned to face the robot. "I almost forgot I'd left you here," he admitted. He rubbed tiredly at his face, feeling the stubble growing. "I need to shave," he groaned.

A glance at Hiro's clock confirmed it was well after midnight. "Maybe I'll wait." Instead of heading to the bathroom, Tadashi moved to tuck in the covers around his brother. The quilt had slipped a bit and he didn't want him to catch a chill. He resisted the urge to check the bandages, knowing Baymax probably already had. "He didn't give you any trouble did he?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tadashi reached to turn off the bedside lamp, pausing as he saw the open sketch book. Almost gingerly, he picked it up and looked at the open page. He knew he was snooping, but it had been left out in the open. "What's this?" he wondered as he looked at the detailed schematic.

Baymax stepped from his charger and waddled over. "That is Hiro's tiny robot," he said as he peered over Tadashi's shoulder. "I believe he is debating on entering it into the school's showcase."

Tadashi's eyes seemed to light up at that. "That would be wonderful! I've been trying to get him to apply for months."

Tilting his head to one side, Baymax seemed to consider Tadashi's rising excitement. "I suggest using caution when addressing this with Hiro. Recent events seem to have shaken his confidence."

For the briefest of moments, Tadashi wondered just how Baymax had deduced that, then chose not to dwell on it. He had programmed him with the ability to access all kinds of data and figured the robot must have tapped into some database. That or Hiro had been messing around with things he shouldn't again. "I'll keep that in mind," he replied as he set the book back down and turned off the lamp.

"You appear to be tired," Baymax observed. "I recommend attempting to sleep before pursuing any further activities."

Moving away from Hiro's bed, Tadashi gave the robot a pat on the shoulder. "I'm just about to head to bed," he assured. "You know what? You're going to make a wonderful companion for my brother." With that, he headed towards his side of the room, pulling the screen closed behind him.