A Complicated Web

Chapter Twenty-Six: All A Lie

Hiro woke with a groan. His head hurt in that sleep-deprived kind of way, and his mouth was dry, like he'd talked way too much. Visions of something danced just out of the corner of his eye, though he couldn't understand what. And when he moved, his arm bumped into something. His whole body hurt like he'd strained his muscles. Slowly, he sat up and realized what he'd bumped into, Kally's leg.

Light somehow filtered in through the thick curtains, telling him it was at least day time. A quick glance over at the other bed told him Wasabi was up. The bed was made. Chances were good he'd been up for a while. He looked around for a clock, not immediately seeing one. He had to turn the other way to find one on a bedside table. It read 10:30.

He yawned, stretched, and carefully tried to roll away from Kally so he wouldn't wake her. She seemed to be pretty out of it, though, and he was safely able to get off the bed without disturbing her. The news of what happened had hit her hard. He'd even brought out the video Tony had given him as proof. She still hadn't been able to believe it, though he thought the most difficult part for her was the fact that someone had tried to kidnap her. She just couldn't seem to understand why, though he'd promised her they'd figure it out one way or another.

"Don't go," Kally said in a groggy voice, reaching out one hand towards him. Her eyes were still closed, making Hiro wonder how she'd known which direction he'd gone.

The teen moved back to the bed, stifling a yawn. He didn't feel nearly ready to be awake yet, but his body had other ideas. "It's okay," he assured her. "I just need to use the bathroom real quick and I'll be right back. Promise."

Kally nodded her head as she drew her hand back towards her chest. She still hadn't opened her eyes as her legs curled up into a loose fetal position on the bed. "Don't take too long."

Heart thudding a bit from the encounter, Hiro made his way to the nearest bathroom and relieved himself. He risked a quick glance in the mirror as he washed his hands, realizing his hair was more of a mess than usual, and he didn't have a comb to fix it. He ran wet fingers through the tangled strands, hoping that would do for now. He probably should shower but didn't have his stuff with him. With a sigh, he headed back to the bedroom, even though he could hear voices coming from downstairs. He briefly wondered what the others were doing before deciding to ignore it.

Kally was in the same position she'd been in when he'd left only a few minutes ago. She turned her head towards him when he entered the room. He didn't' close the door behind him. They didn't need any temptations to do something stupid. Her eyes were still closed, even though she reached out one hand for him.

He crossed back over to the bed and sat down next to her head. "So now what?" he asked softly, not sure if she was really awake or just reacting in her sleep. He had no idea what to do in this situation. If he was Tadashi, and he pretended Kally was him, he'd probably gather her up in his arms and cuddle with her until she felt better. But he wasn't his brother, and Kally was definitely not a blood relation, though part of him didn't want to think about that or the implications it might pose should he act on the thought.

"I had such strange dreams," Kally confessed as she took his hand in hers, giving him reason to turn more towards her. She shuddered a bit as she moved to curl around his body. "Such strange dreams."

Having only recently had a few of his own, Hiro couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "Want to talk about them?" he offered, still sitting on the bed, not moving to take advantage of her proximity.

Kally shook her head. "No. I just want you to sit here with me for a bit until I can get the images out of my head. I kinda think if I talk about them I'll never forget them. Know what I mean?"