"Tadashi? Tadashi, are you okay?" Fred whispers, gently nudging his side.

"U-Um, y-yeah, sorry, I'm fine!" Tadashi answers, finally snapping out of his daze and, trying not to let on just how freaked out he was, he manages to shake the hand that Fred's father offered him. "I-It's very nice to meet you, sir?"

How was he supposed to do this? Did he let on that he knew who Fred's dad was and that they'd met before? Wait, did Fred know who his dad was, really? Somehow Tadashi doubted it, but maybe he was wrong?

"Yes, I believe you said that before," Fred's father answers with just a hint of amusement in his voice. "But I am very glad that we're finally getting to officially meet in person. Fred's told me a lot about you, and he's sent me pictures, but it's not quite the same as seeing each other face to face."

"N-No sir, it's not," Tadashi agrees a bit nervously.

"Still, even without our meeting before now, I had a very strong feeling that you'd be good for Fred-someone who'd look out for him and keep him safe," Fred's dad continues with a smile, and suddenly the reason for why he had started allowing Tadashi to drive Fred places (as well as slackening a few other safety rules) became clear. Fred's dad knew that his son was dating Sunfire, and apparently he respected Tadashi's abilities enough to trust him to make sure that Fred stayed safe. Tadashi wasn't sure exactly what dangers Fred might be in with his dad being a superhero, but suddenly Tadashi felt just that much more committed to making sure that he stayed safe.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Tadashi answers, smiling gratefully back.

"Enough of the 'sir's'," Fred's father chuckles. "Most people just call me Stan, or Mr. Lee if they want to be more formal, but you can call me whatever you're comfortable with."

"Mr. Lee it is," Tadashi agrees, feeling himself relaxing slightly.

"What was that all about?" Fred whispers to Tadashi, looking slightly confused as Mr. Lee moves on to greeting the rest of his guests.

"I-I don't know," Tadashi lies, feeling horrible for keeping the truth from Fred but also knowing that he needed to respect another super's privacy until he was told otherwise.

"Okay…" Fred frowns for a moment before brightening and adding, "Well, whatever that was, he seemed to like you!"

"He did?" Tadashi asks hopefully.

"He did," Fred confirms with a smile.

"I'm really, really glad to hear that," Tadashi admits with a relieved sigh. Maybe things wouldn't be so awkward after all.
The afternoon continued fairly normally after that. Aunt Cass, Ezra's Uncle Alex, and Marie all holed up in the kitchen together to work on dinner, but there was plenty of talking and laughing coming from there so it was clear that they were having a good time. Everyone else mostly just hung out in the sitting room, talking and visiting. Fred absolutely loved Ezra's family, and it was clear that they liked him as well. It turned out that he knew Sabine from the art department at SF State, and Jacen in particular seemed thrilled to have a new playmate. Hera gently scolded him not to monopolize Fred's attention, but neither Fred nor Tadashi minded playing with him since he was so adorable.

It was in the middle of Fred and Jacen playing a particularly lively game of superheroes that Tadashi suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Tadashi, a word, if I may?" Mr. Lee says as he turns around to see him standing behind him.

"O-Of course!" Tadashi answers, glancing over to make sure that Fred was fully occupied before following after him out into the hall.

"So-I believe we've met before now, haven't we?" Mr. Lee says once they're a little ways from the others.

"Yes, I definitely think so," Tadashi agrees a bit nervously, not really sure how this was going to go.

"Sunfire, correct?" Mr. Lee asks with a smile.

"That's what the news likes to call me, yeah," Tadashi agrees, allowing himself to relax slightly since Mr. Lee seemed to be keeping this informal.

"I thought so." Mr. Lee nods. "I do try to respect other supers' privacy, but I couldn't help but see your face when you were injured and your fire went out. You can imagine my surprise the first time Fred sent me a picture of the two of you together!"

"D-Do you mind that Fred's dating a superhero?" Tadashi asks tentatively.

"Heavens no." Mr. Lee shakes his head. "It's a bit of a relief knowing that there's someone else looking out for him now. As you can probably imagine, I've made some pretty powerful enemies over the years, and while I try to have Heathcliff watching Fred as much as I can, he can't go with him everywhere. Knowing that you're with him most of the time when he's not at home gives me more peace of mind than I've had in years."

"Can I ask if Fred knows who you are-y'know, on the superhero side of things?" Tadashi hedges, hoping that he wasn't going into territory he shouldn't be asking about.

"No, he doesn't," Mr. Lee sighs. "I've considered telling him more times than I can count, but I've always feared that I'd be putting him even further at risk by telling him. You know how he is-he loves superheroes, and I fear that if he knew the truth he'd get himself involved in things that might put him in even more danger than he is now."

"I think you should give Fred a bit more credit than that," Tadashi says with a small frown. "He's known about me being Sunfire almost since our first date, and he's never done anything reckless because of it."

"He knows?" Mr. Lee looks at him in surprise.

"I didn't mean for him to find out, but he did, and it's the best thing that could have happened to me," Tadashi answers firmly. "I was so afraid of anyone outside of my team finding out about my powers, and I was terrified of hurting anyone I got too close to. But when I accidentally lost control, he helped me realize that I was a lot more in control than I thought, and my life has been so much better and happier since I've met him."

"I see." Mr. Lee nods thoughtfully. "I… Will certainly keep that in mind."

"I know that you want to protect him, but I think he deserves to know who his dad really is," Tadashi says, making one last effort to try to advocate for his boyfriend. "If my parents were still alive and they were superheroes, I'd want to know so that if anything ever happened to them… I-I'd rather find out from them than find out about it on the nightly news with everyone else, y'know?"

"Hey guys!"

Tadashi stiffens when he hears Fred's voice coming from behind him-shit, he hadn't heard him coming! Had he just ruined everything? Even if he felt Mr. Lee should tell his son the truth, he didn't want to out another super!

"What are you doing out here?" Fred asks curiously as he joins them, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Is everything okay?"

Tadashi bites his lip worriedly, not sure what he was supposed to say. Mr. Lee looks pensive for a moment before suddenly saying, "There's something I need to show the both of you" and turning to walk down the hallway.

"Um… Okay?" Fred shrugs and follows after him, glancing over at Tadashi and asking softly, "Any idea what's going on?"

Tadashi shrugs uncomfortably, not really sure what was happening either but hoping he wasn't about to get kicked out for going too far.

Mr. Lee finally comes to a stop in front of a large painting of his family that was hanging on the wall.

"Uh… Dad? What exactly are we doing?" Fred asks, sounding as confused as Tadashi felt.

"There's something that I need to tell you, Fred," Mr. Lee answers. "It wasn't until after I met Tadashi-or, should I say, Sunfire-today that I realized it was finally time to trust you with the truth."

"Wait you told him?!" Fred gapes at Tadashi in astonishment and maybe just the tiniest bit of accusation.

"I didn't tell him," Tadashi answers, shaking his head and realizing what this conversation was leading up to. "He already knew…"

"How could he possibly know- Holy shit!" Whatever Fred was about to say was cut off as the Mr. Lee presses what turned out to be a hidden panel on the wall, causing a large segment of the wall to swing open like a door.

"Dad… What is that?" Fred slowly asks.

"Something I should have shown you a long time ago," Mr. Lee answers with a soft smile, gently ushering Fred forward. Tadashi wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow or not, but he couldn't resist when he saw all of the superhero gear hanging on the walls-wait, was this one of Magnet Man's hideouts?

"Whoa…" Fred breathes, looking around at everything in awe. "This is seriously, seriously cool… But what exactly is all of this? Is this… A collection of Magnet Man props? Oh my gosh, are you into cosplay and you just never told me?!"

"Fred, these aren't reproductions," Mr. Lee answers gently, putting a hand on Fred's shoulder. "I am Magnet Man."

"I… What? No. No way." Fred backs up a few paces, shaking his head. "Y-You're serious right now?"

"Very."

"The reason he knew I'm Sunfire is because he once helped patch me up after a fight-I got knocked out and he brought me back to his base to make sure I was okay before sending me home," Tadashi explains. "I-I didn't know who he was until today, though! I'd seen his face, but I had no idea he was your dad until I saw him for the first time."

"This… Is a lot to process," Fred slowly admits.

"I know," Mr. Lee agrees. "It is a lot to throw on you so suddenly, and I understand if you're upset-"

"Upset? What, no, I'm definitely not upset!" Fred cries. "It's just going to take a second for my brain to catch up on all of this so give me a minute while it does that…"

"Oh, of course!" Mr. Lee smiles at him. "Take all the time that you need."

"So… You're Magnet Man. You're freaking Magnet Man!" Fred shakes his head, but his eyes were starting to light up with excitement.

"Yes, yes I am," Mr. Lee chuckles softly. "I'm hoping that you're not disappointed?"

"Are you kidding me? This is awesome! I can't believe that my dad is really a superhero!" Fred cries, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. "I have so, so many questions for you!"

"I can imagine," Mr. Lee laughs, hugging him back. "But first there's something more that I want to show you."

"There's more? How on earth can there be more?" Fred asks, and even Tadashi was a bit caught off guard by that.

"Well, this is only the door to where the magic really happens," Mr. Lee answers, pulling what almost looked like a garage opener on a keyring out of his pocket and pressing the button on it. Almost moments later the floor at the far end of the room opens up, revealing a staircase leading downwards into some sort of underground room.

"Ohmygosh. You have an underground lair?!" Fred gasps.

"Not a lair, exactly-more of a base of operations," Mr. Lee replies, his eyes sparkling as he starts to walk down the stairs. "Come on, this way."

Fred eagerly follows after him and, not having been disinvited so far, Tadashi trails behind them.

"This. Is. So. Awesome," Fred breathes as he stares around in wonder at the underground compound, and Tadashi definitely had to agree.

"It's a lot cooler to look at when my vision isn't super blurry," Tadashi observes.

"I imagine it is," Mr. Lee says with an amused smile.

"I seriously don't know how I didn't know this was under our house this entire time," Fred admits.

"Well, I did have a lot of help from Heathcliff keeping you distracted at key moments," Mr. Lee answers.

"Wait! Heathcliff is in on this? Oh my gosh. I-Is he a superhero too?" Fred asks.

"No, he's not-but he is an invaluable assistant in what I do," Mr. Lee explains. "He helps me with some missions as needed, but mostly he makes sure that things here are running smoothly-and makes sure that none of my enemies ever find out about or come close to you."

"Oh… I guess that's the reason why I haven't known about any of this until now?" Fred asks softly.

"Yes, that's exactly why," Mr. Lee gently agrees. "I've wanted to tell you so many times, but I just couldn't live with myself if I let you get injured because I was careless."

"That makes sense." Fred nods but Tadashi could clearly see on his face that something was bothering him. He didn't say anything as the rest of the tour of the underground base continues, but when they eventually head back upstairs to keep anyone from coming to look for them, he manages to pull Fred off to the side while Mr. Lee goes back to the others to play host.

"Hey," Tadashi says softly, taking his hand in his own. "Are you okay?"

"Okay? Sure, yeah, I'm terrific!" Fred replies with what was clearly a forced smile. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I just found out that my dad's one of my greatest heroes! Who wouldn't be excited about that?"

"I want to believe you, but I can tell there's something bothering you," Tadashi answers, frowning and tilting Fred's chin up with his hand when he fails to meet his gaze. "Fred, come on. You've been there for me through so many things. I'd be a horrible, horrible boyfriend if I wasn't there for you when you're clearly dealing with something. ...Is this about the fact that your dad kept all of this a secret from you?"

"The secret doesn't bother me," Fred finally tells him, shaking his head and still avoiding his eyes. "Believe me, I've read enough superhero comics to know why a superhero would keep need to keep their identity a secret. I mean, hell, I'm dating a superhero, I should be used to this by now!"

"Just because you think you should be doesn't mean that you are, and it's okay if you're not," Tadashi tells him softly.

"I-It's not the secrecy… It's the reason why he had to keep it a secret from me." Fred finally looks at him, and Tadashi felt a pang in his heart when he realized that there were tears in Fred's eyes. "I'm surrounded by superheroes every day of my life, Dashi! At this point it feels like just about everyone I know is either a superhero or is connected with a superhero. And that should be a dream come true for me, right? But the truth is… I-I'm just collateral damage, right? The only thing I'm good for is to be used as hostage or bait by the bad guys. Everyone thinks that I'm too weak to take care of myself, and the horrible thing is that they're right. I-I always dreamed of being a hero, but it turns out I'm just the side character who has to be saved…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up!" Tadashi cries, putting his hands on Fred's shoulders. "That is so not true!"

"But it is, isn't it?" Fred answers with a caustic laugh.

"No, it's not," Tadashi answers firmly. He wasn't about to leave Fred feeling like this. "It's true that you don't have powers or tech or a super suit. And maybe it would be a good idea for you to learn some self defence, which I'm more than happy to teach you if you want-I'm a black belt in karate, and I've taught Hiro everything that he knows. But even without any of that, you are still a hero."

"How the hell am I a hero?" Fred asks, looking so lost that Tadashi has to wrap his arms around him and pull him close.

"You're my hero," Tadashi answers softly. "I wouldn't be here without you. When I met you, I'd given up on myself, and I'd just about given up on life. I didn't know how I was supposed to keep going when I was terrified to ever get close to anyone because I thought I'd burn them if they did. I felt like I was a freak, and I was trapped in a life I didn't want. But then I met you, and you helped me see myself in a way I hadn't in a very, very long time. You told me that I was amazing just the way I was, and you were willing to risk getting hurt just to prove to me that you weren't afraid of me. E-Ever since meeting you, I've started living life again, not just trying to survive each day. You saved my life. You believed in me when I couldn't believe in myself, and now I'm going to believe in you until you're able to see just how amazing you are too."

Tadashi felt Fred's hands tightening their grip in the fabric of his shirt, and then he felt hot, wet tears against his neck where Fred's face was currently buried. He wasn't sure if this was a good sign or a bad sign, but he pulls Fred closer, determined not to let go of him.

"Thank you, Dashi," Fred finally says, his voice muffled. "I-I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know what I'd do without you either so we're even," Tadashi answers with a soft chuckle, using one hand to gently stroke Fred's hair while the other one held him against him.

"I love you," Fred finally says softly when he pulls away from Tadashi, his face red and blotchy from crying but some of the old light having returned to his eyes.

"I love you too," Tadashi answers, his now free hand curling around Fred's. "And I'm never, ever going to stop loving you."

"I'm never going to stop loving you either." Fred tentatively kisses his cheek, and Tadashi responds by taking him by the back of the neck and pulling him into a proper kiss.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed there like that, just getting lost in each other, but by the time that they finally agreed that they needed to go back to the others, Tadashi could tell that Fred was feeling a lot more confident in himself again.

"I-I know this is probably super corny," Fred says as they walk back to the sitting room, hand in hand, "but considering it's Thanksgiving, I think that the thing I'm most grateful for this year is you…"

"That's not corny at all," Tadashi reassures him with a warm smile, squeezing his hand. "Actually, I was just about to say the same thing about you."