Hey everyone! Happy late holiday greetings from Willow! I am so sorry, you guys, I wanted so badly to be able to get a new chapter out by Christmas. And I really was planning that! But I kinda ended up in the hospital for Christmas Eve and Christmas. You see, on Monday I got pretty ill and on Tuesday I got worse, so I was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve and then I was only released yesterday morning. Yeah, I had something really bad going on. Nearly had my kidneys shut down too, like, wow…But here I am, back in action and here with the next part of this story!

Disclaimer: I don't see the ownership deed to Big Hero 6 under my tree, so it looks like I still don't own Big Hero 6.

This didn't make sense, not in the slightest.

Tadashi could feel his breathing quickening as he reached his trembling hands towards the GPS tracker. He picked up the device, but with how violently he was shaking he couldn't look at the screen properly. The device slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor, though it didn't break.

"Tadashi?" Baymax called out.

Tadashi couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe. His legs couldn't hold him up anymore. He collapsed onto his knees, eyes locked on the device, on that single moving dot on the screen.

This wasn't happening. This wasn't real. But that dot wouldn't disappear, wouldn't stop moving. He felt weak, dizzy. His hands were twitching and he couldn't think straight for a second…He couldn't take this. What was happening?

"Tadashi," Baymax called out once more, but Tadashi was in no proper state to respond, "Your breathing rate is much too fast and your blood carbon dioxide levels are plummeting. You are hyperventilating."

A slight squeaking noise filled the air as Baymax made his way over to where Tadashi was. The nurse bot gently took Tadashi's hands, placing one on Tadashi's stomach and the other on Tadashi's chest.

"Breathe deeply through your nose," Baymax instructed calmly, "Keep your chest still, it's only your stomach that should move."

Tadashi wanted to say something in response, but he couldn't. He just couldn't breathe. All he could do was follow Baymax's instructions, slowly and carefully. Baymax lead him through the rest of the procedure, Tadashi slowly getting his breathing back to normal and his senses together again.

"There, there," Baymax said soothingly, gently placing a hand atop Tadashi's head, "I am here for you, Tadashi."

The young man looked up at Baymax for a brief moment before slowly looking back at the GPS tracker, at that single dot on the screen.

That dot…Hiro's dot…His baby brother's dot…

"…Hiro…" he choked out, reaching out for the tracker once more, only for his will to falter and the hand to fall limply to the floor.

"Your CRF and TSH levels have skyrocketed, Tadashi," Baymax stated as he carefully assisted Tadashi to his feet. But Tadashi was still far too shaken to stand on his own, so the bot helped him to sit on his bed, "I'm also detecting even further increased activity of the amygdala of your brain."

"I'm…" Tadashi coughed, his throat dry, his words failing him, "I'm…I-I'm…"

He was what? Fine? Was that what he wanted to tell Baymax? Tadashi couldn't figure out his own thoughts, his mind too lost, his eyes drifting to where the tracker was. Baymax took a step closer to where Tadashi sat. The twenty year old was a bit taken aback when those soft vinyl arms of his bot wrapped around him, pulling him in close. Tadashi couldn't find the energy to return the embrace.

All he could do was close his eyes and will himself not to break, not now. Not now…

He had expected many things in response to what he had said. He had expected shock, anger, frustration. He had expected them to yell at him, call him "out of his mind". He expected so many things.

But what he got was complete and utter silence.

It had taken two hours for Baymax to help calm Tadashi down enough that he could stand up again, enough so that Tadashi could properly hold the GPS tracker.

Tadashi double checked the tracker. He even took it apart and put it back together again, the process going much faster than when he had been repairing it before. But the results were still the same. Every time the device turned on, it would indicate a small moving dot.

He didn't know how to respond to this information. What did it mean? No, he knew what it could mean. But why? How? Tadashi quickly realized that standing in his room and trying to figure things out himself wasn't going to solve the situation. So he contacted his friends and everyone met up at Fred's place. Heathcliff set out some coffee for the group and delicious smelling cookies, but no one touched the refreshments. Tadashi explained the situation to the others, only to get no response from them.

"…G-guys," Tadashi started, his voice still shaking slightly from the shock of earlier that morning, "C'mon, t-talk to me."

Tadashi watched as Gogo, Wasabi, Honey, and Fred all shared similar looks of concern with each other before glancing at Tadashi. Tadashi felt his hands start clenching into fists upon seeing those expressions. He had a good idea what thoughts were going through his friends' minds at that moment.

"…You're sure that tracker is working alright?" Wasabi asked after a few more moments of awkward silence, "You double checked and everything? All the wires are connected? Tried new batteries? How about-?"

"It's not broken!" Tadashi shouted, the weight of the tracker in his cardigan's pocket feeling especially heavy, "I fixed it and I know it's working."

"M-maybe someone got those GPS chips!" Honey suggested, a nervous smile on her face, "Yeah, like…Those people from the military! They were in your room. Maybe they took some-"

"I was there too, Honey," Tadashi interrupted, "I watched them the whole time, they didn't take anything."

"But those people in black suits looked real suspicious, dude!" Fred exclaimed, "Maybe they used some secret agent power to snatch some chi-"

Tadashi slammed a hand down atop the table hard, ripples appearing in the cups of coffee and the pile of cookies toppling over from the tremor. Fred and Honey both flinched at the action. Wasabi let out a wince before going over and starting to quietly clean the mess. Gogo looked tense, her eyes narrowing at Tadashi. Baymax, who had been quietly observing from the sidelines, went over and placed a gentle hand on Tadashi's shoulder, the young man taking a deep breath before calming down, patting the bot's hand as a thank you.

"The GPS chips I use are very small and sophisticated," Tadashi mumbled, not able to meet his friends' eyes, "They're pretty expensive, and I don't have money to waste. So I only have a limited number of those chips. I checked, believe me, I did. All the ones in Hiro's clothes at home are accounted for and so are all the unused ones."

With another deep breath, he finally looked up at the others, who were eyeing him warily.

"There's only one chip that isn't here," Tadashi continued on, wringing his hands, "That chip is in the hoodie Hiro was wearing the night of the fire."

A tense silence was in the air following that statement. Tadashi looked at his friends expectantly for a few brief seconds before a bitter smile formed on his face.

"If you guys think I'm an idiot, just say so," he muttered.

"No!" Honey cried, "No, we don't think that!"

"I do," Gogo stated.

"Gogo!" Wasabi hissed.

"Not cool!" Fred added.

Gogo got to her feet, eyes locked on Tadashi, who was glaring right back at her.

"If being harsh will get it through to him, then I'll be as much of a jerk as I need to be," Gogo said as she made her way over to Tadashi, "Tadashi, we all know what's going through your mind right now. And I'm telling you, forget it."

"Not pulling any punches this time, are you, Gogo?" Tadashi asked irritably.

"Just answer me this: Do you really think Hiro's still alive?"

Tadashi's mouth became a thin line, his gaze becoming fixed on the floor. He remained completely and utterly quiet, even with Gogo's foot tapping away impatiently.

"Tadashi," Fred called as he got up and went over to him, "Man, that fire…It was bad. You saw what happened to the exhibition hall. And everything inside was…well…"

Fred's voice trailed off as Tadashi's stomach clenched painfully, his eyes still pointed at the ground.

"There were a ton of reports about the fire," Wasabi stated as he joined them, "I heard all those experts discussing it. They all agreed that any living thing caught in there…wouldn't have made it out…"

"And Hiro," Honey went on from there as she also came over, "…Hiro was such a small boy. A fire that intense, and that explosion afterwards…It would've been too much for him."

"…We never confirmed he was in there though," Tadashi whispered, "He said he had to go back to the hall, I didn't see him after that. We didn't find a body, remember?"

"We didn't find a body for Professor Callaghan either," Gogo argued, "We found nothing for him, and for Hiro all we found were a couple scraps of clothing. It was an inferno, Tadashi. What part of that aren't you getting?"

"I UNDERSTAND, OKAY?" Tadashi yelled, jumping to his feet and causing the others to take a few steps back to give him space.

Tadashi's nails were really digging into his palms now and he was biting his lip hard to prevent himself from saying something he'd regret.

"I understand…" he stated in a softer voice, drawing in several shuddering breaths, "I know this is just stupid and delusional on my part. But…But there's a chance."

The others looked at him sympathetically. Tadashi couldn't bear to see that sympathy. He closed his eyes, but all that did was make his mind conjure up images of Hiro.

"There's a chance," Tadashi mumbled, "A small one, but it exists. I'm not asking you guys to believe me. Just…go with me on this. Okay?"

The awkward silence returned for a brief moment before Gogo broke it with the pop of her bubblegum.

"Fine," she stated in an aggravated tone, "You wanna be like this? I'll go with you then."

"I'm going too!" Honey added determinedly, "If there's even a chance…We have to take it…"

"This mess just gets weirder by the minute," Wasabi groaned, "But yeah, count me in too."

"And you can always count me in!" Fred exclaimed, "Fred's Angels and the Speck of Mystery! Now that sounds like an adventure!"

Tadashi let out the slightest sigh of relief.

"Thanks, guys…Really…"

Tadashi left with Baymax to get prepared for the group's mission to figure out the secret behind the dot on the tracker. Gogo, Wasabi, Honey, and Fred stayed behind at Fred's home a little while longer, tension filling the air in Tadashi's absence.

"Don't tell me any of you guys are buying this?" Gogo asked the others.

"…Like Tadashi said, there's always a chance," Wasabi replied. He shook his head, "…But I don't see a good outcome for this."

"But what if it really is Hiro?" Honey questioned, "What if he truly did survive?"

"How?" Gogo retorted, "How could that little kid make it through that fire and the explosion? And the building collapsed too, don't forget that!"

"And if he did survive, why hasn't he tried to contact anyone?" Wasabi added, "Especially Tadashi. I may not have known the little man for that long, but it doesn't take a genius to know he and Tadashi were super close."

"Maybe…He couldn't?"

Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey all turned to stare at Fred in confusion. Fred was seated on the couch, arms crossed in front of him. He looked like he was in deep thought. On the table before him were several of his comics.

"What do you mean, Freddy?" Honey asked.

Fred picked up a couple of the comic books and went over to where the others were. He showed them the comics, all of them from different series but all having one common theme.

"All of these characters were kidnapped by the villain," Fred explained, "They were kept hostage in order to lure the heroes into a trap."

"So, you're saying that the masked guy kidnapped Hiro and is trying to lure all of us into a trap?" Wasabi let out a sigh, "…When did my life turn into a comic?"

"But that doesn't make sense either!" Honey said, "Tadashi only found out about the masked man by accident. He would've had no reason to kidnap Hiro in the beginning!"

"Unless he kidnapped Hiro for his knowledge about the microbots," Fred responded, "Who better to get him to create more than the creator himself?"

"Enough!" Gogo yelled, "Hiro. Is. Dead. We all know and accept that, right?"

The others looked away from Gogo at the question, the silent gesture giving her an answer.

"I thought so. The only one who hasn't accepted that is Tadashi. Let's not fuel that hope of his, alright?"

"But, Gogo, a little hope wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?" Honey asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't," Gogo scoffed.

"But what kind of damage is this kind of hope gonna do for someone who's grieving like Tadashi is?"

The question instantly sent a chill through everyone's spines. What could they do now? Tadashi was far too stubborn about this. They would never be able to make him stop. If they refuse to go, then he'll just choose to head off on his own. And, depending on what he finds, who knows what kind of state he'd be in?

"I have no clue what's going on," Wasabi said after a moment, "But we still need to go with Tadashi. We're his best friends. It's our job to look out for him."

"And that's what Hiro would want too," Honey agreed, "I'm sure he's counting on us to look after his big brother. We can't let him down."

"And we won't," Gogo grabbed her stuff off the table, "Let's go and get our suits. We've got some work to do."

The others nodded, Gogo and Wasabi heading out of the room. Honey made a move to follow them before noticing Fred standing still, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Fred, are you alright?" Honey asked.

Fred was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, the same confused look on his face. His mind seemed to be focused on something else, Fred not noticing Honey waving a hand in front of his eyes, trying to get his attention.

"Freddy!" Honey shouted, lightly slapping her friend's cheek.

"Whoa, don't scare me like that, Honey!" Fred shouted out in surprise, putting a hand over the slightly pink cheek, "You didn't have to slap me."

"What's on your mind?" Honey asked him.

Fred's brow furrowed at that. Honey couldn't help but feel worried. This definitely wasn't like Fred at all.

"I'm just…worried," Fred answered, "Something's been bugging me about all of this since we went to Krei Tech. And now, with this tracker and Hiro…"

"Something really is off here."

The midmorning rush at the Lucky Cat Café was always a bit too intense to handle alone. Even in the past, when Hiro and Tadashi would lend a helping hand if they were free, there just seemed to be too much to take care of.

But Aunt Cass had handled this kind of stuff alone before. After all, she had been running the café for a good ten years before her nephews became a permanent fixture in her life.

That being said, Aunt Cass still wished Tadashi could've stayed to help. At the very least, she could have used his company.

But perhaps that was a selfish thought to have. After three weeks of hiding away, Tadashi had finally started going out in the past couple weeks. After that incident with the military, Aunt Cass wasn't sure just where he was going or what he was doing. But Tadashi had sworn that he wasn't looking for trouble. And while it hurt that he was being secretive around her, she still trusted her boy.

However, as Aunt Cass moved to fill the order for seven dozen mixed donuts for Mr. Renaldo's office party and start work on Ms. Joy's medium no foam vanilla soy latte, she wondered if perhaps she should've been a little firmer in questioning Tadashi this time around.

Tadashi had left just an hour earlier with Baymax, giving some rushed explanation about going somewhere with his friends for the day. Aunt Cass, of course, had noticed the rather bulky bags the pair had left the café with. More importantly, Aunt Cass saw the expression on her nephew's face.

A strange mix of desperation, pain, and hope. What could've possibly caused it?

"Marie, I am definitely nothing like you," Aunt Cass muttered to herself as she pretended to listen to Ms. Joy's rant about how there was no way her drink was correct and that Aunt Cass should make it again, "You would've figured all this out a long time ago."

The ring of the phone rescued Aunt Cass from Ms. Joy's rant. Aunt Cass answered the call while also working on remaking the drink, knowing Ms. Joy was glaring daggers at her.

"Hello, this is the Lucky Cat Café," Aunt Cass greeted the caller. A very formal voice answered, "…Y-yes, that would be me."

As the conversation on the phone went on, the cup with Ms. Joy's remade drink slipped from Aunt Cass' trembling hands.

The noise of the café died at the sound of a wail.

It was a slightly awkward arrangement. After suiting up, Tadashi and the girls hung out atop Baymax's back while Baymax held Fred with one hand, Wasabi grabbing Baymax's other arm in a death grip. They had been flying for a good two hours now, Tadashi giving Baymax directions based on what the tracker was showing him.

From the information the device was showing, it seemed as though the dot was located on one of a series of uninhabited islands way off the coast. As they kept flying, Tadashi noticed Honey and Gogo occasionally eyeing him, but he ignored the looks.

He was fine. He was perfectly fine. He just needed his answer, that was all. And then he'd be alright. He could move on and take on the masked man.

He just needed his answer first.

Baymax landed on a small island, the soft sand turning into a rather thick forest as one looked further inland. The others jumped off Baymax and looked around cautiously. Save for the sound of a few birds, the island was very quiet. Tadashi took one more look at the GPS tracker in his hand. The dot was still there, its location somewhere deep in the forest.

"Now what?" Wasabi asked.

"Baymax," Tadashi looked over his shoulder at the nurse bot, "You still have Hiro's data from the last time you met, right? …S-scan the island…"

A soft whirring sound filled the air, the front of Baymax's helmet turning bluish-green. Suddenly, a beeping filled the air and the screen disappeared.

"I apologize, Tadashi," Baymax said, "It appears that something on this island is disrupting my sensors."

"Dude, that's not a good sign," Fred noted, "A mysterious abandoned island blocking sensors?"

"Forget it," Tadashi cut in before Fred could go off on a tangent, "We'll just use the tracker, since it's not being disrupted."

Without even checking to see if the others were following, Tadashi ran off into the island's forest, letting the tracker lead him. He could hear his friends tripping and pushing aside branches and falling in mud behind him. Tadashi himself took a few falls when he was too concentrated on the device in his hand. But he just brushed himself off and kept going.

He was close. He had to be close. Then, this would all stop. He wouldn't even have to go after the masked man, right? All he needed was to find him. Just find him and everything would be okay again.

This pain would stop. It had to.

"Tadashi, slow down!" Honey called out from somewhere behind him.

"Tadashi, please exercise caution," Baymax's voice stated, "A forest environment such as this may be home to some poisonous species of snakes and spiders."

He brushed off their words, starting to break into a sprint. Two miles. The tracker said the dot was two miles away from him now.

His friends' shouts were growing more distant by the minute. He started to gasp, sweat trickling down his face and his heart hammering away painfully in his chest. His chest was hurting, his lungs trying to keep up with the fast sprint. He could've slowed down, the dot wasn't going anywhere.

But he needed to get to him. He needed to get to him and hold him and apologize for that night, for that stupid argument.

Tadashi let out a short shout when a root tripped him, sending him falling face first into a mud puddle. With his visor being up, he got a mouth full of dirt and water. He sputtered and coughed as he rose shakily to his feet. His legs ached and he gasped for air. But the dot on the tracker was blinking rapidly now, indicating he was close…Less than half a mile to go.

He couldn't break yet.

"I'm almost…there," he panted, "Wait just…a little…longer!"

A quarter of a mile left…A thousand feet…Five hundred feet…Two hundred feet…One hundred…Zero.

"Hiro!" Tadashi screamed as he burst into a clearing of the forest, the location of the dot.

The others had lost Tadashi a couple miles ago, however he seemed to have been going straight, so they assumed they'd run into him eventually.

"And when we do, I'll punch him," Gogo growled, swiping at the mosquitoes attacking her face.

Honey squealed in disgust when yet another spider landed on her arm. No one knew where Wasabi was storing all those sanitary wipes he offered everyone but none of them were complaining.

"C'mon, guys, it's not so bad!" Fred tried his hardest to keep everyone's mood up, "Hey, how about when everything's done with, I invite you all onto my family's private island? We can have a ton of fun there!"

"I think I spot Tadashi up ahead," Baymax stated, pointing towards a clearing just a few feet away.

The others ran towards the clearing, promptly freezing at the sight they saw.

Tadashi was on his knees and facing away from them, the tracker lying on the ground beside him. From where they stood, they could see he was shaking.

Exchanging anxious looks, everyone slowly approached the silent young man.

"Tadashi?" Wasabi spoke gently, "Hey, you okay?"

No response. The others got right behind him, finally seeing what his gaze was so focused on.

"…Is that…?" Honey whispered.

It was a raccoon. It was thin and sickly looking, tied by a rather sturdy yet thin rope to a nearby tree trunk. Also tied to the animal was a dark piece of cloth.

It looked like the hood of a jacket.

"Hiro was wearing a jacket that color, wasn't he?" Gogo asked under her breath, "The night of the showcase…"

No one answered as Tadashi finally moved, his hands reaching towards the animal. With painful slowness, he removed the cloth and untied the rope, the raccoon slowly going back deep into the forest.

"Tadashi…" Fred whispered.

Tadashi was still silent, his shaking hands clutching the cloth. None of them could see his face from where they stood.

"Always the hood…" Tadashi's voice was so soft, everyone had to strain to hear him, "I always sewed the GPS chips in the hoods."

"Looks like you were right, Fred," Gogo sighed, feeling angry over the whole situation, over the state Tadashi was in, "This was a trap…"

"Masked guy wanted to distract us," Wasabi added grimly, "Try and buy some time for whatever he's planning."

"Look," Honey said, pointing at one of the nearby trees.

Nestled in the leaves was a small black device emitting a green light. With a flick of her wrist, Gogo sent one of her discs at the device, the machine slicing in two and falling out of the tree.

"Baymax, how are your sensors now?" she asked.

Baymax performed a quick test scan of the area.

"My sensors appear to be fully functional now. It seems that machine was responsible for disrupting it earlier."

They had all been duped. It was a rather obvious trap, but it still got them.

A strange sci-fi tune filled the air, startling everyone but Tadashi, who remained motionless on the ground.

"Someone's calling," Fred stated, pulling an arm out of the sleeve of his costume and searching his pockets.

"You brought your phone with you?" Gogo asked.

"Hey there," Fred answered upon finding his phone, "…Oh! Uhh, yeah, he's with us! Oh, well, we've been having a ton of fun doing our science thing, he couldn't answer the phone. Uh, sure…"

Fred stepped forward, towards Tadashi.

"Hey, dude, it's your aunt. She really needs to talk to you," Fred held out the phone, but Tadashi remained as he was, as though he didn't hear anything Fred said. Fred put the phone back to his ear, "Uhh, Tadashi's hands are real messy right now, mind if I put it on speaker?"

Fred proceeded to do just that, everyone listening quietly as Aunt Cass spoke.

"Tadashi, sweetie," Aunt Cass' voice was wavering but she sounded like she was trying to power through whatever she wanted to say, "I…I would've preferred telling you this personally but I don't think…I don't think it would be bad for your friends to hear this."

If Tadashi was even listening to what his aunt was saying, no one knew. Tadashi seemed solely focused on the cloth from Hiro's hoodie in his hands.

"Well, um," Aunt Cass continued, taking a few shaky breaths, "D-do you remember what I told you a couple weeks ago, Tadashi? That…That SFIT was funding a more extensive search of the debris of the exhibition hall in hopes of finding…r-remains?"

Dread filled the air, the reality of what Aunt Cass was saying starting to crash down on all of them.

"You see, sweetie, they…they found a few remains. They were so tiny, they were missed in the original search. The biggest they found was part of a…part of a finger. They said it was due to being at or near the center of the explosion or something, I don't know. And they did some testing and I got a call earlier…"

Aunt Cass seemed unable to stay strong much longer, the sobs coming through clear over the phone now.

"Oh, honey," Aunt Cass took in a deep breath to steady her voice just enough, "…It's Hiro. They found Hiro, Tadashi…"

Fred let out a shout of surprise when the phone was slapped out of his hand, the force of the blow breaking it to pieces on the ground. Everyone looked at Tadashi, who was on his feet now, facing the others, the cloth clutched in one hand while the other hand was balled into a fist.

Honey couldn't help but tear up at the look on Tadashi's face. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, unusually shiny as well, his teeth clenched. He looked so much like a scared child at that moment…

Tadashi looked back down at the cloth in his hand. He out a gasp, and then another. Over and over, these terrifying gasps that sounded like he wanted to scream, to cry his heart out, but he was stopping himself. He turned and looked over at where the tracker lay. The other watched warily as he slowly picked it up.

"Tadashi!" Wasabi shouted in shock when the twenty year old flung the tracker at a nearby tree, the device shattering upon impact thanks to the added strength of the superhero suit Tadashi wore.

"Tadashi, your prefrontal cortex is indicating decreased function," Baymax noted as he stepped closer to his creator, "I'm also detecting increased release of catecholamines. Please, let me help you to-"

"DON'T!" Tadashi screamed, backing away, "Just don't!"

"Tadashi, c'mon, let us help," Fred said worriedly.

"We're your friends and we're here for you," Honey added.

Tadashi pressed himself against the trunk of a tree, trembling violently as he pressed the hood from Hiro's jacket to his face. He let out more of those painful gasps, those short wails that were trying to suppress so much.

"Tadashi, we'll help you," Gogo said firmly, "All of us. We'll make that masked man pay and…"

Gogo's voice trailed off because Tadashi seemed to suddenly freeze. His trembling stopped and he became silent. His hands pulled the cloth away from his face, though his eyes were still locked on it. His expression…None of them could figure it out.

"Tadashi?" Wasabi called out, "Tadashi, can you hear us?"

Without a single word, Tadashi flung the cloth aside, the clothing landing in a mud puddle. The others didn't know what to think about that. Tadashi had been holding that cloth like a lifeline but now he was just tossing it? The same Tadashi who couldn't bear the idea of even one of his best friends touching something that belonged to Hiro? The young man marched over to Baymax, his expression still unclear to the others.

"Baymax, scan the area for that man."

Tadashi's friends couldn't help but flinch. That voice…It was too low, too cold…Too dead. That wasn't their Tadashi's voice.

"Scan complete," Baymax said, "The masked man is on another island approximately fifty miles due east. I believe we can make the journey in just under an hour."

"Then let's move out," Tadashi stated emotionlessly.

"Tadashi, wait," Honey tried to get him to see reason, "I don't think we should go after that guy now."

"I'm with Honey," Wasabi agreed, "Dude, you're in absolutely no condition to-"

Tadashi spun around to glare at them. Every one of them, even the usually unflappable Gogo, took a couple unconscious steps back.

This wasn't Tadashi Hamada. That cruel face, those dull eyes…This wasn't their best friend.

"Move. Out," Tadashi snarled.

With a click, the visor of Tadashi's helmet slid down, hiding his face from everyone's view.

And done! And here I was a bit worried this chapter would end up being unusually short. And so, here's your absolute confirmation, folks! The Hiro of this AU is dead, dead, DEAD! To all of those who were hoping otherwise, especially after last chapter, I am so sorry. But to be fair, I did state early on that this kind of AU was one of my favorites. I would never bring a character back to life after I decided this is the AU I'm going with. To be fair, I did really screw around with you poor folks about whether or not Hiro truly was alive or not. Though I'm not quite done with Hiro's death yet. There's a bit more pain involved, and whether that happens next chapter or the chapter after than remains to be seen.

I saw that pretty much half the review for the last chapter were not trusting me and the other half were believing that Hiro might be alive after all. To which I say, I'm surprised absolutely no one brought up how back in chapter 6 I had Aunt Cass mention that SFIT was doing a more extensive search of the debris for remains. I did say in an early chapter that while not everything was foreshadowing there are certain things I mention for a good reason. That line was one of those things. It was supposed to be your clue that there was going to be something up regarding remains and it was my tool for confirming Hiro's death.

And so now Tadashi is pretty much right at the breaking point. He just needs one more tiny push. Anyways, onto research. Google is your friend if you want more extensive info on this stuff. Anyways, Tadashi was indeed hyperventilating in the beginning. Did you know that apparently the whole paper bag thing is now actively discouraged? Good thing I looked that up because the original scene had Tadashi using a bag to calm down. The method Baymax uses to help him calm down is called belly breathing. I had Baymax describe the first half of the process. In regards to Baymax's diagnosis, I'll just give you brief names and whatnot. TSH I've mentioned before but CRF stands for corticotrophin-releasing factor. The amygdala and prefrontal cortex are both parts of the brain, increased function of the former being seen in depression and anger. Decreased function of the latter is seen as one loses control of their emotions. Like I said, you wanna know more, Google is your best choice.

Man, this chapter was hard to write but I think I'm satisfied! Please keep reading and reviewing, and thank you all!