A Complicated Web

Chapter Twenty-Four: What's Really Going On?

Hiro felt like he couldn't breathe. His chest was tight, like someone had him in a vice. He couldn't move, his body unable to obey his thoughts. Heart pounding, he tried to open his eyes but couldn't.

He was in a dark void, except there was solid ground under his feet. And he was running, despite the lack of oxygen in his lungs. He had no idea how he was moving, especially since he could feel his body pressing against the bedding beneath him. And his muscles ached with the strain, his mind telling him he'd been going on this same line for an immeasurably long time.

What was he running from again? Oh yeah. It was a snake, lightning fast. And it was gaining on him. Except it wasn't a snake. In fact, he wasn't sure what exactly what it was, because it had a lot of heads. He couldn't see past the constant movement of them and their long sinuous necks. What the heck was that thing?!

Hiro continued to run, knowing his strength was running out. His heart felt like it wanted to force its way out of his rib cage, it was beating so hard. And no matter how fast he ran, he could never get ahead of the creature after him.

Something under his feet, a stone perhaps, caused him to stumble and he almost went down. He managed to evade that by throwing his hands out to catch himself. But that small mistake allowed the creature to catch up with him. He could feel it, hear it, breathing down his neck.

Fear froze him and he went down for real, skinning knees and hands on whatever the ground was made of. He turned to face his foe, eyes wide as the multiple heads reared back, ready to strike.

"Hiro."

Someone was shaking him by the shoulders, calling his name over and over. "Hey, wake up." The voice was soft but urgent. "Hiro!"

With a start, Hiro sat up, his chest heaving. He couldn't help but cough as saliva hit the back of his throat. Even with his eyes open, it took him a few minutes to realize he wasn't in some dark unknown. As his eyes adjusted, he could see the outline of the bed he was lying on, along with other furniture around the room. Soft light came from the hallway, the door partially open. It took him another couple of minutes to get his breathing back under control enough that he wasn't choking on his own spit.

"Baymax?" he called out, suddenly feeling far more vulnerable than usual. He couldn't immediately see the white vinyl in the dark.

The sound of the healthcare bot waddling forward reassured him. "I am here," the huggable marshmallow stated in a low tone. "You appeared to be having a bad dream. I could not wake you."

It took Hiro another minute to realize the person who'd called him from sleep wasn't his usual companion. Instead, Kally had entered the room to try and wake him. "Baymax asked me to help," she confessed at his questioning look.

Footsteps sounded in the hall. "What's going on in here?" Natasha asked as she stood in the doorway.

Hiro rubbed the cold sweat from his forehead. "N-nothing," he said with a somewhat hesitant voice. His heart still pounded from the dream. And if he closed his eyes, he could still see the nightmare creature out of the corner of his eye. "Just a bad dream." He looked over to the other bed in the room where Wasabi was still out for the count. At least he hadn't woken him with his bad dreams.

Natasha pursed her lips for a moment, one hand on her hip. "You should try to go back to sleep," she finally said before leaving the room.

The robotic nurse came into view. He'd stepped off to the far corner of the room, keeping an eye on things while Kally tried to wake his friend. "Your neurotransmitter levels are low," he stated as he looked at the teenage boy.