I'll Find You

Rated: T for Teen. Some language.

Summary: My take on how Tiger and Bunny's episode 17 could've been just a little bit better.

Warning: Spoiler alert for Tiger and Bunny episode 17. If you haven't seen it yet, and I wouldn't know why you'd wait, you might not want to read this yet. Tiger and Bunny doesn't belong to me, but I'm playing with the characters for a bit. Italics mean it came from the anime.

"Please...Please help Grandma! God, I beg you! If I lose Grandma, I don't know what I'll do."

Kaede said these words in prayer before the rain started. She was on her way home from school. Not wanting to get wet, she ran under the drop off of the old shrine she visited sometimes. Happy to have a dry place, she figured she'd just wait the rain out, but it wasn't just rain. It was a storm. Lightning flashed and thunder roared and Kaede screamed. She was not a fan of thunder or lightning. Unfortunately, the place she took refuge soon became a place that wasn't as safe as she thought. The lightning had struck a nearby tree and it barricaded the only way out. The flooding waters of the rain soon swept the little bit of dirt that was under the shrine away and caused it to move. Kaede screamed again. She tried to run back out of the shrine, but the tree was blocking the door. Soon more trees were falling and they rolled only to be caught by the original tree.

"Somebody?! Anyone? Help me!"

Kaede called as she continued to pound on the door before giving up and thinking to check her cell phone. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Forcing herself to calm down and then pulling the phone out. She began to panic, again, when she noted there wasn't any service and her battery was dying. What was she going to do?

"Kaede?!"

Kotetsu, meanwhile, was calling his daughter, searching for her, as she was late coming back from school. Sure he thought maybe she was still upset about what had happened to her grandmother that morning and him forcing her to go to school anyway, but when his mom called each of her friends to see if she was there and each one of them said she hadn't been, he got worried and went out to search for her.

"Kaede?!"

"Walking around in this rain isn't going to do anything but get you sick. Come in the truck, there's one more place she could be."

Kotetsu and his older brother made it to a spot that Kaede liked to travel. Crossing the bridge, Kotetsu could see how high the water was rising in the little river.

"Kaede?!"

When he didn't get a response, he looked at his brother.

"Screw this. I'm gonna need you to be quiet for a minute or two."

"What?! Wait! If your powers are draining..."

"Shush!"

With that, Kotetsu activated his NEXT abilities and focused his hearing.

"Please baby. Give me some kind of sign."

Kotetsu knew he was almost out of time, but he held it. Thankfully, before the time was up, he heard her.

"Dad? Please help me. I want my Daddy."

"I'm coming baby."

With that, Kotetsu took off in the direction he heard his little girl, leaving his brother behind to catch up. When he reached the shrine, he took in the fact that trees were blocking the door way.

"Kaede! Daddy's here! Just hold on. I'm gonna get you out."

"Daddy?! I'm scared."

"It's alright sweetheart. I'm coming."

That said, Kotetsu began moving the trees out of the way. Unfortunately, the last of his power vanished as he was picking up the last tree. It fell back on him, one of the branches stabbed him in the side while the weight of the tree fell upon his right leg for a moment. He winced, but almost slapped himself.

"What good is a Hero... if he can't even save his own daughter?!"

That said, Kotetsu used the last of his human strength to move the tree out of the way.

"Kaede!"

Kotetsu threw open the doors of the shrine and knelt there waiting to make sure his daughter was ok.

"Daddy!"

She ran and threw her arms around him. He winced, but didn't say anything about the pain.

"Come on. Your uncle is just over there, waiting."

Kotetsu let her go and fully expected to get up and follow her when she took off running towards her uncle, but as he stood up his leg buckled underneath him and he went down. The shrine was still moving under the power of the rain and Kotetsu looked up to see his daughter turn around.

"Dad?"

"Kotetsu?"

His brother frowned as he watched Kotetsu give a small smile before the shrine collapsed in itself and the rain took what it could of the pieces, including Kotetsu, down towards the river.

"Daddy!"

"Kotetsu!"

Both ran towards where they'd just lost sight of Kotetsu and managed to catch a glimpse of him heading down the river.

"Come on!"

Kaede's uncle (as they never give you his name) said to Kaede and the two ran off in hopes of catching Kotetsu before he got too far ahead. They needn't worry as a few of the loose trees had created a dam and Kotetsu was among them. Kotetsu's brother reached out and managed to pull Kotetsu out of the river. He collapsed on the bank of the river after rescuing his little brother and took a minute to catch his breath. Kaede moved to her father's side and looked at his face, trying to see if he was alright.

"Dad? You okay?"

Kotetsu didn't respond. Kaede shook his shoulder, but still didn't get a response.

"Daddy?"

Kotetsu's brother moved over to him and took in the fact there was blood coming from his side and it didn't seem like Kotetsu was breathing. He quickly began CPR and Kaede stayed out of the way. When Kotetsu finally took a breath, the two of them were so happy. His brother moved him in the recovery position and frowned at the shakes he saw go through Kotetsu's body and the odd angle his right leg was in.

"We gotta get out of this weather. Let's go bro."

Kotetsu couldn't move on his own, so his brother leant down and picked him up to carry him towards where they had parked the van earlier. Once they arrived to the van, Kaede jumped in the back and moved to hold her father's head while they drove towards town. Her uncle had pulled a blanket over both of them and she clung to it and her father's hand.

"I need some help here."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"My little brother got hurt saving his daughter from the old shrine. It just collapsed and he fell into the river. He stopped breathing at one point, but I got him back. He hasn't regained consciousness since."

"Let's get him into trauma room one please. Is his daughter okay? Do you need to be checked out sweetie?"

"No, I'm okay. Please just help my Dad."

Kaede had tears in her eyes as they took her father away. She was shivering and a nurse brought over a blanket for her to wear before promising to bring back a change of kids clothes.

"Thank you."

Kotetsu's brother bowed and thanked the doctor before watching him run off to see about Kotetsu. The nurse that went looking for the clothes brought some back and showed Kaede to the restroom before setting her up with a cup of hot tea and another blanket.

"Thank you."

Kaede said quietly and took a sip of her tea. She mostly just wanted to hold onto it to help warm her hands. She turned at looked at her uncle.

"What will we do? Grandma's all alone at the house. Was she feeling better enough to be left alone? Should we tell her what happened to Dad? Will Dad be alright?"

Kotetsu's brother looked down at his niece and gave her a one-armed hug.

"Grandma was fine when we left. Your dad's gonna be just fine. He was in such a hurry to find you, I bet he's just happy that you're ok. He'll be fine. You just wait. We'll wait to hear what the doctor says, and then we'll worry about what to tell your grandmother."

Kaede merely nodded and bowed her head, looking into the tea cup. Her uncle eventually had to take the cup from her as she had fallen asleep. It seemed like forever before the doctor came to find them in the waiting room.

"You're brother has suffered from a broken right leg and a few broken ribs. He's got a puncture wound in his right side. There was water in his lungs, so we'll be watching for pneumonia, and he has a mild concussion.

Kotetsu's brother took all that in with a sigh and looked down to see that Kaede wasn't asleep anymore.

"He'll be okay though, right? My Dad will be okay?"

"He was lucky. One of the ribs could've punctured a lung and he would've really been in trouble. Thankfully, he will be fine. Gonna need to stay here a few weeks, but he'll be alright."

"Thank you doctor."

Both Kotetsu's brother and daughter bowed to the doctor.

"I need to call our mom."
"Can I see him?"

"Sure, right this way."

Kaede looked back at her uncle before turning to follow the doctor.

"There's a lot of machines around your father, just to make sure he's okay. Alright? There's no need to worry, your father will be alright."

"Thank you."

Kaede took a deep breath before entering the room that the doctor had lead her to. She looked back to see if her uncle was coming, but she couldn't seem him. She took another deep breath before entering the room. She gasped in shock at the slightly pale body that was in the middle of the bed.

"Daddy?"

She called quietly as she moved towards his bed. There were so many wires and machines that she didn't know what hooked up to where and what it did.

"Dad? Can you hear me?"

She looked to the doctor when she didn't get a response.

"He's on heavy medication to make sure he doesn't get an infection and so that his body will heal properly."

"Oh, okay."

Kaede looked back at her father and tears sprung to her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. Thank you for saving me. I love you dad."

"I'll give you a few minutes and tell your uncle where to find you."

"Thank you."

Kaede wiped a tear from her eye and moved into the chair she had seen coming into the room. She pulled it over to sit beside her father while she waited for new on her grandmother from her uncle.

"Dad? Please don't leave me like Mom. Please?"

Tears weld in her eyes as she took her father's hand and held it tightly. She laid her head by her dad's side and fell asleep. That's how Kotetsu's brother found her when he finally made it into the room.

"Kaede?" He called softly.

Kaede slowly woke up, but quickly jerked her head towards her uncle when she remembered where she was and why.

"I thought it was just a dream. At least I was hoping it was. Dad's gonna be alright… right? Is Grandma alright?"

Kotetsu's brother nodded before answering.

"Your grandmother's fine. She just worried about you and your dad. Visiting hours are nearly up so I'll take you back home and then I'll come and stay with him."

Kaede wanted to protest, but she also didn't want her grandmother worrying. She turned to look at her dad again and sighed before moving up to kiss him on his forehead.

"I'm going to go make sure Grandma's okay. Uncle's gonna come back and stay with you to make sure you're okay. I love you Dad."

"I'll be back Kotetsu."

With that, Kaede and her uncle left the hospital and headed home.

"Oh Grandma!" Kaede exclaimed as she ran up the front stairs and into her grandmother's arms.

"It's alright child. He'll be alright. I'm just thankful that you're alright. You had us so worried."

Her grandmother held her as tight as she could and moved them into the house and out of the rain.

"I know you told me over the phone, but Kotetsu will be alright, won't he?"

Kaede's grandmother had sent Kaede to bathe in order to warm up and get ready for bed. Now she was able to talk to Kotetsu's brother freely.

"That's what the doctor said. They are keeping him mostly because of the concussion and to watch for pneumonia."

His mother released the breath she hadn't known she was holding while she sat down. She sent up a quick prayer of thanks and to watch over her children.

"I'm heading back now so Kotetsu won't be alone. I wanted to get Kaede here so that you wouldn't be alone and so she would be here instead of worrying over her father."

His mother nodded in understanding and looked over to see Kaede walking back into the room.

"Be careful."

Kotetsu's brother nodded at his mother's words and turned, leaving to head back to his brother's side.

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Kotetsu asked.

"I'm glad you're doing better, but you're going to have to be a little more patient. The antibiotics are working in your system and we're very happy that the pneumonia was taken care of so quickly, but you have to build your strength back up and being here, where you can be monitored, is in your best interest.

It had been nearly a week since Kotetsu woke up. Two weeks since he'd developed pneumonia and had a bit of a scare. The doctors almost couldn't get the dosage right and the fever from the pneumonia nearly killed Kotetsu. Four weeks later and Kotetsu was on the mend and getting restless.

"Couldn't I do this at home, in my own bed?" Kotetsu questioned.

"I suppose you could, but we recommend that you stay here. That way if anything were to happen, we could help right away."

"But you said yourself I was getting better. Come on doc. I just want to go home. Spend time with my little girl before I have to rush back off to work. Speaking of work."

Kotetsu's eyes grew large and he looked over to his brother for help.

"I told them what happened. Told them not to send anyone and that you'd be back when you were better."

Kotetsu breathed a sigh of relief, but he had to wonder how it was that easy. Shrugging a shoulder, he winced as it moved his still healing ribs. His leg was in a cast for another two weeks at least. He sighed and winced again.

"I've been here long enough doc. Please let me go home."

The doctor looked from his clipboard and at Kotetsu. He really felt for the guy, but… oh who was he kidding. As long as Kotetsu took the meds, stayed off his feet, and rested, he saw no real reason the man couldn't go home.

"Fine, but you will come back at the slightest raise in your temperature. You will stay off that leg and rest. You will finish all your antibiotics and you'll come back in two weeks to get that cast off."

"Done! Where do I sign to get out of here?"

"I'll have the nurse bring in the paper work and we'll get you out of here."

"Thank you doctor." Kotetsu's brother said.

"Yeah, thanks doc." Kotetsu smiled and reached out to shake the doctor's hand.

The doctor merely nodded and shook Kotetsu's hand before turning and heading to get a nurse to start on the paper work.

"I'm free!" Kotetsu said as he made his way up towards his mother's house forty-five minutes later.

Kotetsu's brother merely shook his head as he helped his little brother up into the house. His mother stood there looking at her sons and sighed before shaking her head.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me?" Kotetsu replied sheepishly.

"Of course I will. You ever worry me like that again…"

She left the threat at that and moved into the kitchen to get out of the way of Kotetsu's brother helping Kotetsu to his old room.

"Love you too ma. Thanks." Kotetsu said as he got as comfortable as he could.

His brother nodded and left the room. Kotetsu wanted to wait until his daughter got back from school to surprise her with his release from the hospital, but he was so tired he fell asleep. The soft breath and warmth on his side is what woke Kotetsu up from his nap.

"Thank you Dad. It was really scary and I'm sorry you got hurt."

"Don't worry sweetie. You just know that if you're ever in trouble, I'll find you."

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Until next time…