Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Two: Don't pout

Bright light forced itself into Hiro's eyes and he tried to ward off whatever was trying to blind him. His arms flailed, individual pangs spreading up and down as the bruises manifested unpleasantly. His pulse quickened, breathing accelerating.

"Just calm down, bonehead," Tadashi said as he placed a reassuring hand on his brother's arm. "No one's trying to hurt you."

Hiro blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden change in lighting. He was lying on a hospital bed, one of those heart monitor things clipped to his finger, with more wires coming from his chest. And one of those canola things up his nose. He could feel the pressure of the air forcing its way up his nasal passages. Just how many things did they have him hooked up to, he wondered. He thought he saw someone retreating, a thin cylinder in the medical practitioner's hands.

"I shouldn't have to wake up to this," he groaned, realizing that part of the reason his arms hurt was because there were bandages pulling with his movements. Apparently he'd managed to scrape the skin off of at least part of his lower arms and elbows. And his knees. He could feel the same pull around his knees. And his head still hurt.

Eyes more or less adjusted to the indoor lighting, Hiro put one hand up to his head, feeling a bandage on his cheek as well. "I hate hospitals," he declared. Maybe it was the antiseptic scent, or the lack of any defining features, like they wanted to suck the life out of you while healing you. Maybe it was something else entirely. But that didn't matter right now.

Tadashi moved into view, smiling at that declaration. "Have you ever liked them?" He let out a brief chuckle, probably more than aware the answer would be no. "But the visit was more than warranted. Luckily, you didn't break anything. No cracks or fractures, so that's a good thing. The doctors did say you have a concussion though, so they're keeping you a bit longer, just to be safe."

Hiro struggled to sit up at that idea. "Not happening," he argued. "I'm not staying here another minute." It was only at that moment that he realized he was already wearing a hospital gown, the scratchy sheets pulled up to his chest. And his entire body was stiffer than a board, making it hard to move.

Tadashi pushed him back down. "Hiro, you pretty much just drowned. And you have a concussion. I think a little observation is warranted. And so does Aunt Cass. You're staying."

The boy dropped back against the pillow, folding his arms as he pretty much pouted. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He distinctly remembered events unfolding in a much different manner.

What had he done, exactly, that had warranted an intervention? Okay, there had been the bot fights, but that was way back before-before Tadashi'd died.

Hiro's eyes went wide as his brain finally made the connection. He'd done it. He'd actually managed to do it. He wasn't sure how just yet, but he'd done it. He'd gone back in time, to before the time when Tadashi had died.

The real question was just how far back had he gone? The current events were decidedly not familiar, so something had to have already changed. But what had changed? And how far back had he actually gone? Tadashi didn't look that different from when he last remembered seeing him. Thinking about it only made his head hurt more though, so he decided to set that thought aside until later.

Unless this was all just a dream, a hallucination brought on from physical and psychological trauma. Getting shot did tend to do that to a person. But if that were the case, why did he seem to have memories for both existences? Even if the current one seemed rather murky?

"Don't pout," Tadashi admonished, tweaking Hiro's nose. "You'll get wrinkles before your time. Besides, it's only one more night."

Something in what Tadashi said struck Hiro. What was it? Only one more night? Wait. "Just how long have I been in here?" He braced himself for the answer.