Fred, Honey, Gogo and Wasabi trudged outside to wait for the chopper Fred had called for. They were all a little worse for wear and wanted nothing more than to return home and nurse their bruises. The day had been a disaster.

The one upside was that they had discovered why Professor Callaghan had started all this.

The lengths a man would go to to avenge his daughter...

He wondered what it was like to be so close to your parents that your death would drive them to such extremities. It's not like his parents would ever do that. Well, he didn't think so anyway. It wasn't like they hated him or anything, but there was some pretty noticeable distance between them and their son.

He glanced at his friends and wondered if they were asking themselves the same thing.

Honey was pretty close to her family. They all went to her mother's house for family dinners every week. Of course, they were all the sweetest, most exuberant people out there, so villainy didn't seem likely for them.

Gogo grew up with a single dad- her mom had died when she was a little kid. Cancer of some kind, he was told. Still, her dad was always there for her when she needed him, even if he was pulling double shifts at the repair shop. Super villain though? Still unlikely.

And Wasabi's dad was basically his son's biggest fan boy. He was boisterous and loud and loved sharing. Especially sharing about how great his son was. The man was the human version of a dog. Definitely not super villain material.

They were so close to their families that Fred got a little jealous for a moment. Which was stupid, since there was no reason for him to be so petty, and also because they had bigger things to worry about. They had nearly died ten minutes ago, and here he was feeling sorry for himself.

God, he was so sick of feeling so negative all the time. It felt like it had been years since he'd been..well, normal. The last time he really felt like himself had been months ago. During the student showcase.

Okay, he was absolutely not going to think about that right now. He was already tired and vulnerable- he was not going to think of something that was sure to upset him.

He couldn't help but think how much easier it would be to be happy if Tadashi were around though.

Or how much easier it would be if he could just move on.

"Tadashi, are you okay?" Tooth asked hesitantly, fluttering to his side after his friends had left the room.

He clenched his jaw and felt his hands curl into fists, whipping around to glare at the guardians. "Am I okay? How in the world could I be okay after all this?" he snarled.

"I just watched my friends get thrown around like ragdolls by the robot I created to help people! Who can apparently be turned into a ruthless killing machine just by taking his healthcare chip out! ALL BECAUSE MY BABY BROTHER JUST TRIED TO MURDER THE MAN I DIED TRYING TO SAVE!"

The guardians all took a step back at his sudden outburst. Tadashi had always been so polite and unsure of himself that this burst of anger came as a shock to them. Heat was radiating off of him and a couple of them were eyeing Jack nervously for reassurance.

Jack was probably the least surprised about what was happening. He'd be pissed too if it were happening to him.

"Tadashi, how about we calm down. Take a deep breath, yes? Is not good to get so worked up. Perhaps we can discuss this later," North tried to reason with him, holding his hands out placatingly.

"No," Tadashi said, "We are talking about this right now. Starting with what the hell just happened.

"Where were all of you? When we left you guys told me that you would have my back. But I was alone! I was the only one who tried to help! And what were all of you doing?!"

His chest was heaving and he felt like he couldn't breathe properly, but for once he couldn't bring himself to care.

Tooth took an anxious step forward and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder."We do have your back! We're here for you Tadashi, but-"

"But what?" he hissed, slapping her hand away. "You can only help me if it involves saving your only skins?"

"Mate, it's more complicated than what you're making it to be," Aster tried to cut in.

"How?! If you want me to understand then you're going to have to start explaining things to me!" he shouted, throwing his arms out in exasperation.

"Tadashi please," Tooth pleaded. "We wanted to help, but we couldn't. We're not supposed to interfere with the mortal world."

"Only when it involves taking kids' teeth and giving them presents," he scoffed.

"We are the guardians of childhood. The children are what we protect. They are the future of the world, and it's our job to make sure that future looks bright. After that it's up to them," she protested.

He just looked at her incredulously. "So what, once they stop believing in you, you throw them to the wolves?"

"No, of course not-"

"Well, it sure sounds like it!" he exclaimed.

He paced back and forth, fingers running through his hair as he tried to get his jumbled thoughts together. The rest of the guardians stood back at a safe distance. He didn't realize he was starting to smolder.

"At the very least, you're telling me that you didn't do anything back there because they weren't children. Which is true, excluding Hiro who is only fourteen years old! He's still a kid, but I guess he doesn't count as one since he doesn't believe in you. Well, guess what? He never has! Does that mean if he was still five years old you'd just let him destroy himself?"

North flushed in indignation. "Of course not! But this is different!"

"Tadashi, we're not supposed to interact with the mortal realm unless it benefits the children. Your brother may not technically be an adult, but he's not a little kid anymore either. We can't interfere with someone like that. When we do it changes everything. Why do you think there are so few adults that believe in us?

"If adults believed the same way children do- it would change the universe as we know it. Your friend Fred is an anomaly. Just one person doesn't make a huge ripple, but if he reveals our existence to more people? That would be something different. Which is why we couldn't interfere back there.

"What would he tell them if we helped? How would he explain what they were seeing?"

He knew what she was saying made sense, but he was still furious. Why did they even bother to come if they couldn't help him?

"Tadashi we know this is hard for you, but there is a bigger picture to look at. I know you still care about your friends, your family, but they're a part of your old life. You'll have to let them go eventually," Tooth said. And if that didn't just make his blood boil.

He whirled around to glare at her. "Yeah, eventually. I figured that meant I had at least a few years before then. It's only been a few months, yet you expect me to just drop everything I've ever known. You expect me to just give up on everyone who has helped shape me. People who have actually been there for me through thick and thin. People I trust." His voice cracked at the last word, and he had to swallow past the lump building in his throat.

"You can trust us," North said, quietly for once.

He looked helplessly at the older man and felt the flames on his skin sizzle out.

"No. I can't."

He didn't wait for them to reply. He ran out of the room intent on joining his friends on Fred's family chopper when something else caught his attention.

In the corner of his eye he saw it.

A red mirror standing down the opposite end of the hallway.

He didn't know where it would take him, but he took a chance.

He leapt through its gem-like surface as the guardians called out to him.

Jack and the others sprinted after him, but by the time they reached the corridor Tadashi was already jumping through the portal.

And as soon as Tadashi disappeared so did the mirror.

"What the- where did he just go?" he asked. He turned to the others, gesturing wildly at the wall.

"I don't know," North said unhelpfully. Fucking great.

"What? That mirror doesn't just take you somewhere nice to chill? I thought that's what they were supposed to do," he huffed.

Sandy shook his head and starting creating little gold images to communicate. There was an arrow pointing at Jack and what looked to be a stoplight.

"The mirrors don't all connect to the same place, Jack. What Sandy is saying is that the ruby mirror takes you where you need to go," Tooth translated.

"And that means...?"

Aster leaned heavily against the wall beside him and sighed. "It means he could be anywhere. There's no telling where it took him. We might as well cut our losses and find something else to do until he finds his way back."

Jack was hardly a fan of the Easter Bunny and hated to agree with him, but he had a point. There really wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Shit," he cursed as he blasted the scorched floor with a wave of ice.

He'd felt so guilty watching Tadashi while his friends put themselves in harm's way. To be honest, he'd spent enough time tagging along with the other boy that he had gotten a little attached to them too. They were all so amazing. Hiro was this kid genius with a master understanding of robotics, Wasabi was so serious but so caring and gentle, Gogo had a thirst for adventure and danger that it almost made Jack pale in comparison, and Honey was the sweetest, most cheerful chemist he had ever seen. And of course there was Fred.

He had to be more careful when Fred was around. If the human saw him he'd have to explain his way out of why he was creeping around. It was annoying, but what really sucked was how Tadashi never had to sneak around. Jack had to hide while Tadashi just stood in plain sight, wishing to be seen but remaining invisible to his ex. Jack had never been in love before, but he'd always been told it was a wonderful thing. Watching what it did to Tadashi- and Fred, he realized- made it seem so painful.

He'd have to be blind not to see how much they still loved each other. Even after Tadashi's death the two couldn't let go of their feelings. Fred was always looking at the gap in his life where Tadashi ought to be, and Tadashi was left as an outsider looking into his old life.

He knew Tadashi wasn't going to give up on his friends. Not until they passed away in their sleep from old age. He didn't know how the other guardians didn't understand that. They'd all been thrust into guardianship by unfortunate circumstances too. Of course, all their loved ones were long gone.

He wished he could help Tadashi somehow, but he didn't know how. He couldn't even stand by him while he'd fallen apart as his brother tried to kill his professor. Granted, that was because Aster had forcibly removed him before Fred saw him, but still.

He sighed.

There was no knowing where Tadashi had vanished to, but he had a good guess about where he could find the others.

"I'm going to go check up on Tadashi's friends," he said.

The other guardians began to protest, but he waved them off. "It's what Tadashi would want."

They quieted down, realizing he was right. That being said, they refused to let him go alone. It was going to be harder to sneak around Fred as a group, but they weren't to be dissuaded.

The guilt and separation anxiety were probably getting to them.