"What the hell was that?" Hiro's hair was damp from the shower. He quickly tugged a large sweatshirt over his head. It came down to his knees so only the bottom of his black shorts were visible. His dark eyes darted to his window which had been shaking violently only seconds ago.

"Come on, come on, come on! Load faster dammit!"

Hiro heard Tadashi's nervous muttering get louder and louder as he made his way down the hall. The notes of panic in his brother's voice made his stomach churn. He thought about going to the bathroom to be sick when another blast followed by an explosion jolted him back into the moment.

"Tadashi!" The pitch of his voice jumped in fear.

"I'm right here." The young man spoke as soothingly as he could manage. "Just give me one more second."

Hiro ducked into Tadashi's room. Every wall was covered in blue prints and monitors. The green glow from lines and lines of code illuminated the dark space. Tadashi's broad silhouette loomed in front of the younger sibling.

Hiro chewed on his lip.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know." Tadashi turned on his heel and snatched a small rucksack from the back of his chair. He tossed it roughly at Hiro. "You grab this. I'll go get-" Another explosion. This one sounded closer. Hiro could smell smoke. "Son of a bitch." Tadashi muttered to himself. "We're out of time." For a brief moment defeat flickered in his eyes before being replaced by resolve. He crossed the room in four large steps. He snatched Hiro's wrist and began dragging him to the door.

"Wait! Stop! We can't go out there!"

"We have no choice."

Hiro drew in a large gasp when they hit the streets. Smoke spiraled into the sky from a dozen or more ongoing fires. The ground vibrated. People were screaming. He ducked out of reflex as a gun ship whistled overhead. That's an A-61 Mantis. Hiro thought to himself as he jogged to keep up with Tadashi. Where are they all going?

He slammed into something solid and warm. Hiro's cheek brushed against Tadashi's soft striped sweater. Why the hell did he stop in the middle of the street?

"What's up with you?" Tadashi's expression twisted into something ugly. Shades of disbelief fused with pure animalistic terror. He remembered himself and pressed on.

"Come on. We have to be getting close. Don't look, bro."

"Don't look at what?"

A dark mass loomed amongst the clouds of ash. If a massive scorpion had sex with a transformer its vile offspring still wouldn't be as a terrifying as this thing. Hiro's limbs went numb as he stared into it's cold, unforgiving red eye. A low hum filled the air. It's a…

"Laser! Get down!"

Hiro was winded as Tadashi tackled him into a pile of rubble. His large hands covering as much of the young boy's skull as he could manage. Hiro coughed as his mouth was filled with dust. His eyes stung and watered. He couldn't breathe. Something in his rucksack chirped and whirred. Tadashi had him on his feet.

"Come on, little bro. We have to keep moving."

Broken glass crunched under their boots. In a way they had just walked through their front door for the last time...what was left of it anyway.

Up ahead Hiro could see the park. The place where he rode and crashed the hover board he built. The place where they celebrated his brother's graduation from the academy. Fred, Honey, Go Go, Wasabi!

"Tadashi! The others-"

"I'm sure they're fine." There was an unspoken I hope tacked on to the end of that statement. As they entered the park a large, beefy man bellowed at them.

"Civilians, this way!"

"We made it."

They stood side by side on the stone plaza which had been hastily converted into an evacuation point. Hiro wasn't sure when they clasped hands but their grip was like a vise. This isn't happening. Not here. Not on Earth. We're not colonists. We're not combatants. We're just normal. We're just normal and this is our home. Realization struck. This...was our home.

"I got room for one more!" Hiro stared into the drop shuttle. It was crammed with shivering people. A private in the Alliance Navy beckoned the crowd. "Just one more spot. They'll be coming back for the rest of you."

Hiro subconsciously shuffled into the crook of Tadashi's arm. His heart leapt into his chest when he heard Tadashi yell.

"I have one more right here! He's a child! I have a child!"

The unnamed soldier grunted.

"Children are a priority. Send him forward."

"Tadashi, no!" Hiro's eyes filled with large drops of water that threatened to spill over. "I'll wait with you. We're leaving together."

Tadashi stooped to his level. He ran his fingers through Hiro's hair. Their foreheads pressed together tenderly. When he spoke he was eerily serene. He almost sounded like their whole world wasn't crumbling at their feet.

"You're a tough kid, you know that? I am so proud of you, bro." His long arms wrapped around the tiny frame. Pulling him closer and closer. Maybe if they concentrated they could even fuse into one. Hiro breathed deeply. His brother's smell was musty. He smelled like sweat and grease and cheap cologne. He smelled like safety. "I'm sorry...for this."

In a flash Hiro was shoved into a set of iron chains. He struggled against the soldier's grasp. Tadashi stared at him from the launch pad. He regarded Hiro with pain, with sorrow and with a deep sense of relief.

"What did you?!" Hiro screamed in a frenzy of hurt and betrayal.

His savior and captor signaled the pilot.

"We got him! Take 'er up!"

"Let me go! Let me go, you bitch! I said I'm staying here! What, are you deaf? I. AM. NOT. GOING!" Hiro's small fists beat on the windows ineffectively. "Tadashi!"

As the reaper grew nearer and nearer there was a mad dash. They must have known it was hopeless but they tried to run anyway. There was only one tall figure who stood in his place, waving goodbye to his little brother shrieking in the sky.