AN: a basquillion apologies for the long radio silence and if anyone is still reading this, thank you! hope you enjoy this the next installment.

Elsa awakened sometime later, staring at the ceiling in the dark room, her head pounding again from the effects of the drug. She jumped up and grabbed the door handle, but found it burned her skin. She cried out as her hand flew back, and she quickly created some ice to sooth the burn before blasting the door with her magic.

"All you gotta do is knock you know," her captor called from the sofa across the room.

Elsa huffed and crossed her arms, wincing as she inadvertently squeezed her burn.

The man who looked so much like Tadashi glanced at her in concern.

"I'm sorry about that," he gestured to her hand. "I have some healing salve if you want?" he offered.

Elsa stared at him. What was his deal? Why was he being so nice?

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man shrugged, "I don't know, what do they call me?" he turned and went into a small bathroom she had not yet taken notice of, pulling a tube out of the cabinet and tossing it to her.

"They don't call you anything," Elsa squeezed out some ointment and rubbed it into her hand. The relief was immediate. She glanced up at the man, confused all over again. "Wait, what do you mean you don't know?"

He shrugged again, half grinning, "What, no nickname? No headline?"

Elsa eyed him carefully, "I've only been in the country a few days, I haven't seen anything. We've been calling you 'fire guy'"

Fire guy snorted, "That's original."

Elsa glared at him.

"What do they call you?" he turned the question on her. She stared up at him, her heart pounding as the eyes that looked so much like Tadashi's looked into hers. She found herself answering absently.

"They call me The Snow Queen."

The man grinned and clicked his fingers, "I've heard of you!"

"What?"

"Yeah, you're the one who lures poor, stupid men to their icy deaths!"

"They're not dead," Elsa argued, "They are just sleeping… In a very cold environment... That will preserve them until I deem them worthy of being unfrozen." She turned her face away, cursing herself for being pulled in, for acting so defensively. His nice guy act was really convincing.

It's not Tadashi, she reminded herself sternly, don't let him manipulate you!

Still, she turned and looked at him again.

"So what made you go all ice cold? Or have you always been this way?" the man had grabbed the chair and straddled it backwards, leaning his arms on the back of it, his chin resting on his arms. He looked so interested that her guard dropped again.

"Uh- I… lost someone."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"A lover?" he grinned. She glared at him but didn't answer.

"Ooooh, was he terribly handsome?" he preened, "was he taken by an evil villain so you have to extract revenge on mankind in general?"

Elsa huffed and crouched in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest. She closed her eyes and focused on ignoring him, on pretending he wasn't there. If she didn't look at him, she couldn't fall under his spell. She counted to ten, took a deep breath and then returned to her mattress in the small room. The apartment they were in so she heard his muttered.

"Touchy subject, got it. Sorry."

Strangely enough he did actually sound sorry. Elsa rolled over and stared at the ceiling again as the door dragged closed. How was she going to get out of this one?

"Good morning Snow Queen, I've brought you some breakfast!"

Elsa cracked an eye open to see not-Tadashi's smiling face peering down at her.

She sat up but didn't accept the bowl.

"Drugged again?" she asked.

The man made an affronted face before breaking into a grin, "Not this time I'm afraid."

Elsa shook her head. She couldn't figure him out.

"What's your deal?" she burst out.

The man frowned, "What do you mean? It's just breakfast, I promise, it's not drugged. I don't need to go anywhere today."

Elsa shook her head, "No, you, what is your deal? Why are you so weird? Why are you being so nice to me but won't let me go? Why did you burn my friends and what did you want at the university?"

She stared at him, her expression demanding an answer. His face fell and his shoulders slumped. For some reason she felt bad for him. She pushed the feeling down though. She would NOT feel sympathy toward her kidnapper. Even if everything in her wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder.

He sighed and looked up at her, calculating, deciding.

"If you're not going to let me go you may as well tell me," she said.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he said softly. Elsa strained to hear him.

"What?"

The man looked up at her, an anguished expression on his face.

"I can't always control it. I didn't even know I had it. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I promise!"

"What are you talking about?" Elsa asked, confused. The man grabbed her hand and her heart pounded. Even his hands felt like Tadashi's, but a lot warmer. She focused some magic in case he burned her.

"I don't know who I am. I woke up one day, covered in ash. I don't know anything that happened before that. I don't know how I got this way, and I don't know how to fix it!"

"But- but why were you at the university?" she demanded.

"That's where I woke up. I'm always looking for clues. When you looked at me as though you knew me…" his eyes turned pleading as he looked at her, "You're the first person who has ever done so. Who do I remind you of? That name you said… Tada…shi? Who is he?"

Elsa pulled her hand away, her heart pounding. He had awakened covered in ash in the same spot Tadashi had been killed. In an explosion. He had no memory of anything before that … Could it be? She stared up at him, thoughts racing.

"But… you attacked my friends," Tadashi wouldn't have done such a thing – ever.

The man hung his head, "Like I said, I can't always control it. When people seem like they are attacking, it just bursts out. Like its protecting me or something."

"But you kicked me!"

He looked guilty, "Yeah, sorry about that, I just snapped. Your friends had been chasing me for a while. I had a few… accidents and they were being really self-righteous and annoying about it. I just wanted to see if I could remember anything and everyone was getting in my way. It was stupid of me."

Elsa had one more question to ask him.

"How long has it been since you woke covered in ash?"

"Two years."

Elsa could not contain the sob that escaped her throat as she launched herself over to wrap her arms around him. He froze uneasily as the tears streamed down her face. He awkwardly patted her back before pulling her arms off his neck and leaning back.

"Are you ok?" he asked, uneasy. She nodded and stared up at his face. How he survived was a mystery and a miracle, but she had him back!

"Tadashi," she breathed, taking him in.

"Ok, uh, if you say so," he looked so confused that she laughed.

"How did you survive?" she asked.

"I have no idea. What happened?"

Elsa blinked at him. He really didn't remember anything. She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his and motioned for him to sit down next to her.

She finished her story. Tadashi just stared down at his hands, frowning.

"Do you really think I could be… Tadashi?" he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and her heart raced. She had him back! She smiled and squeezed his hand, nodding.

He stood and paced the room, "How do you know though? Is there any way to prove it?"

Elsa stood and faced him, "From what Hiro tells me, only you and Callaghan were inside the building when it exploded. I don't know who else you could be."

He stared down into her eyes, "And you and I were…"

Elsa blushed and looked down, nodding.

"And Hiro, aunt Cass…"

"Your family."

Tadashi pushed his hair back from his forehead and stared at the ceiling. He had a family. He had a history. He was more than just some freak with a fire ability. He smiled and turned to Elsa, eyes shining

"Thank you."

Elsa stared up at him, her heart beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. He glanced down at her lips but didn't move any closer. In fact, he turned to face away, frowning.

"I can't see them again." He determined. "You should go too."

Elsa frowned, "What? Why?" no way was she going anywhere now!

Tadashi brushed some hair off her face.

"I've only known you this time around for two days, and I already feel… very strongly about you. If I lose control around you… or them…" he trailed off. Elsa knew what he was afraid of. She smiled and grabbed his hand, "That, I can help with."

Suddenly the door burst open and Wasabi flew in, blades blazing. Elsa jumped up, shielding Tadashi as the rest of the gang followed.

KC

Here's hoping the next chapter wont take so long!