I had the story planned out to chapter 20 but SOMEBODY got really excited about seeing the chapter High Voltage cameos in so now I have it planned out through like, chapter 16, maybe less. But don't worry that's just for Season 1, there will be more chapters for season 2. After all, Seth and Morgan really should be around for the city of monsters.
"You don't need to do this," Seth said, hand on Morgan's shoulder. It was about 11 in the morning and they had just moved the rest of Seth's stuff into Morgan's apartment. Morgan had needed two and a half cups of coffee to be able to do it but Seth had been up for hours because of work and easily threw themself into another task. Later Fred was going to drop off the mattress and then Seth would be fully moved in and free to be themself.
"Hiro wants to meet me for lunch," Morgan said as Seth moved their hand towards Morgan's chest.
"I know that, and you should meet him, but no one said you had to wear a suit." Seth tightened Morgan's monochrome lavender tie with a satisfying tug.
"I look amazing." Morgan twirled in her striking black suit and Seth couldn't bring themself to disagree.
"It needs something," Seth said, "one of your pins."
"Oh! I know just the one." She grabbed a lapel pin that said, "Fuck the world, take up space."
"That's what you're going with? To eat lunch with a teenager?"
"I'm sure Hiro knows swears."
"Okay, if you're certain. You do look good- What are you doing?"
"Putting on heels, duh."
"You're already so tall," Seth complained.
"I know. Isn't it awesome?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna stay here and unpack, maybe upgrade the wings. Have fun at lunch!"
"I probably won't." Seth paused, glanced at Morgan one more time, and went to straighten her collar. To their surprise, Morgan wrapped her arms around them, hugging them close.
"Be careful, Seth, about the wings. Don't let any peeping-toms see, and be careful that Fred doesn't come by while you're working on them." Seth wrapped their arms around Morgan's neck, returning the gesture.
"I'll be careful. You should be careful too. After this, I know everything is going to be okay." Seth didn't usually say things like that, they weren't exactly an optimist, but Morgan needed a little extra encouragement today and Seth was happy to oblige. After a moment, Morgan pulled away.
Morgan let out a sigh, "Hiro doesn't deserve any of this. I hope he's alright."
Hiro's head was swimming. He felt bad for Morgan, who had apparently had a panic attack yesterday while Fred and Wasabi were helping Seth pack. But they had gotten confirmation on the wig, and the panic was practically another confirmation. After this discussion, if Morgan seemed to give herself away, they would plan their attack. He hated thinking of it as an attack or an ambush. This was a person Tadashi had loved. But if Morgan was behind the robbery then justice had to be served.
When Morgan walked into the Lucky Cat Cafe, she didn't seem like she had been in crisis mode. Her black suit and heels carried her confidently through the cafe and Hiro had to wonder if this woman was afraid of anything. And then she sat down, and she seemed a little more nervous. She fidgeted with her glasses before making eye contact with Hiro.
"Let's get something to eat," Hiro suggested, hoping to break the ice.
"Sure. What do you recommend?" Hiro ordered them some sandwiches and tea. Morgan seemed even more nervous than before.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Hiro said, "I haven't seen you since the funeral."
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Morgan murmured, "I wanted to be there for you and your aunt. I just couldn't."
"It's been a hard semester," Hiro said with a nod, completely understanding.
"Oh, yeah, you go SFIT now. How's that going?"
"It's a big change," Hiro confessed, "I'm realizing how much left I have to learn."
"Yeah, it's always a big shock when you realize you're not the smartest person in the room anymore. It makes you feel kind of small, kind of useless, doesn't it?" Morgan hesitated as the tea was set in front of her and took a timid sip, blinking a couple of times at a bit of dust in her eye.
"Well, there's always something you can do, even if you're not the strongest person out there."
"Sure. You can keep making yourself smarter and stronger. I admit it was hard to keep trying to be better after Tadashi died."
Hiro nodded soberly, "I didn't want to do anything at all…"
"Tadashi is never going to be forgotten. He'll continue to live on in us," Morgan promised, feeling a tinge of guilt and studying her lap. She let go of the teacup as if it had burned her and let her hands fall to her sides.
"I hope he would be proud of us," Hiro said, looking directly at her. Morgan forced a smile.
"He would be proud of you, Hiro. I've been doing my best to not worry about how he would see me now. I'm trying to do what's right for me. But I still love him. I'm still trying to honor his memory." Hiro gritted his teeth for a moment. How could a thief lie so blatantly about honoring Tadashi's memory?
"I'm sure you don't have anything you'd have to hide from him if he were here."
"You're right, I don't. I think wherever Tadashi is right now, he knows exactly what we're doing and is proud of us for doing what we can to help people."
"Yeah. That's all he ever wanted to do."
"Your brother was a good person."
"He was." Their sandwiches arrived with a side of awkward silence. Hiro felt like he'd heard more than enough, but he still felt uneasy. He didn't want to thwart Morgan like some common criminal.
"Are you okay?" Hiro blurted after a few minutes of silent eating.
"Huh?"
"Everything that's been happening, are you alright? Do you need anything, do you need to vent? Is there anything you need to tell me?"
"It's taken me a long time to figure out my feelings and start to feel okay again. I think I've finally gotten to a place where I can, and I have people to vent to. But if you ever need to talk, Hiro, just let me know. I'm trying to be there for other people. I'm trying to be better." Morgan left a tip on the table, smiled sadly at Hiro, and walked out of the cafe, seeming fearless once more.
Morgan was terrified.
"Hiro's on to us," Morgan said, roughly picking up her wings from under Seth's careful hands. She slung the wings, half unfolded, into her coat closet, and kept an eye on the door.
"Hey, I was working on that."
"Well, stop working on it. We're under attack, Seth. You should get out while you can."
"I live here, I'm not leaving you." Morgan sighed, kicked off her heels, tossed her suit jacket aside, and slumped onto the sofa.
"This is going to be bad, Seth. They're going to arrest me."
"We'll fight back. We'll post bail."
"How are you going to post bail if you're in jail next to me?"
"At least I'll be next to you! This is our burden to bear together. I'm not leaving you."
"We can't fight them, Seth. We know them."
"Well, they know us. Maybe you were right. Maybe they'll go easy."
"I was just saying that." Morgan ran her hands through her hair, giving her short locks a little tug.
"Morgan! Look at me. We're not just going to take this sitting down." Seth rolled up the sleeves on their "The Future Is Nonbinary" shirt. They actually were fairly muscular for their short frame and unassuming nature. Hours of stocking shelves and working with heavy engineering equipment insured that they were fit.
"Seth, we're not fighting them."
"Maybe you're wrong. Maybe they're not on to us."
"Why else would they be poking around our business lately?"
"Trust me, Morgan. We're going to be okay." Seth sat down and put an arm around Morgan, "I won't let them hurt you. I won't let them take you."
Morgan looked at them, practically begging at this point, "Please just leave. I don't want you getting in trouble for something that was my fault."
"I made those wings," Seth said, a scowl on their face, "if we go down, we go down together."
Morgan laughed sadly and rubbed tears out of her eyes, "You're insane."
"You're insane too. Thinking I'd leave you. Dummy." They sat shoulder to shoulder and watched the door. Morgan hardly breathed. Seth's fists were clenched, despite what Morgan had said, they were ready for a fight.
Hiro and the others were not ready for a fight. Fred especially felt ill-prepared to wage war against his friend. Hiro's head hung heavily, and Baymax assessed the sour mood that hung over the group.
"Maybe we're wrong," Honey Lemon suggested.
Hiro shook his head, "I think we're spot on this time."
They approached the apartment, getting a couple of weird looks from Morgan's neighbors. Fred stuck his hand out and knocked.
"Be careful to change your voices around them, they don't know who we are," Hiro said in a whisper. They waited a second. Fred knocked again.
"Maybe they aren't home," Fred said, hopeful.
"Baymax, scan-"
"Scanning for signs of life. There appear to be two people inside."
"Dang it," Fred said, hanging his head as well. This time, Hiro knocked.
"GoGo, can you pick the lock?"
"Why do you assume I can pick locks?" GoGo asked, arms crossed.
"Can you?"
"Yeah." GoGo squatted next to the doorknob.
Honey Lemon bent down, watching her, "How'd you learn how to pick locks?"
"I watched several online tutorials so I could impress cute girls."
"Did it work?"
The door began to swing open, "Are you impressed?"
"Yes."
"Then it worked."
Seth jumped off the sofa, grabbing one of Morgan's heels and hurling it towards the intruders. GoGo easily knocked it aside.
"Angel," Hiro said, trying to deepen his voice.
"Hiro Hamada. Already taking me up on my offer to talk, I see." Hiro was stunned.
"I'm not, we're not-"
Morgan stood up, "I know who you are. You know who I am. Let's call it a draw."
"It's not a draw," Hiro said, emboldened as he stepped toward her. Two against six... Wasabi began to poke around, looking for the wings.
"I have to turn you in to Krei," Hiro said with a sigh.
"Krei deserved to be knocked down a peg or two."
"While I agree with you on that, robbing him wasn't the way to do it."
"I didn't keep any of the money. It went directly back into the community he endangered."
"You're not in the right because you did a bad thing to do a good thing," Hiro said, crossing his arms.
"Just don't incriminate Seth. They didn't do anything wrong." Seth chose that moment to jump on Wasabi and try to wrestle him away from opening the coat closet and seizing the wings. GoGo rushed over and easily dragged Seth off of him, blocking each one of Seth's attacks.
GoGo was close to knocking Seth out so she didn't have to deal with them when Hiro and Morgan snapped in unison, "Both of you! Stop it!"
"Seth, you have surgery in a few days! Sit your ass down." Seth reluctantly sat down, but they were glowering at Fred, who felt really, really bad.
"I'll still bring you your mattress," Fred said apologetically.
"Whatever."
"Listen, Hiro. I'll do whatever you want, arrest me or whatever, but leave Seth out of it."
"We don't actually have the authority to arrest anyone," Wasabi said thoughtfully.
"Leave them out? They assaulted us," GoGo pointed out.
"You're trying to arrest Morgan, of course I attacked you!"
"No one is arresting anyone. Krei wants to talk to you, Morgan. I think we can arrange to leave Seth out of this."
"I want to be a part of this!" Seth protested, standing up and putting a hand on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan turned to face them.
"Seth," Morgan said, sounding urgent, "I need you to stay here. I'll be back in a bit. Why don't you make us some dinner?" Seth turned towards the others.
"If you hurt her, I'll find you and make you pay."
"Um…" Fred said, "Do you still want the mattress?"
"Yes, I still want the mattress."
Fred stayed behind to deal with that and also to make sure that Seth didn't try following them. The rest of them escorted Morgan to Krei Tech. It hadn't even been a week and Morgan was already back, her head hung in shame. The leap had been so liberating but she'd known the fall was coming. She just wasn't prepared for the impact when she hit the ground.
Hiro was already scrambling, trying to figure out a way to keep Morgan from being totally wrecked by the wrath of a wronged CEO.
"Any way that you could pay him back for the thousands of dollars you owe him?"
"I'm still paying off student loans," Morgan said glumly. She really didn't know if she would see Seth again tonight. She had no idea what to expect. But she would take whatever came her way as long as Seth was okay.
"Listen, Morgan. You told me you were trying to be better and I believe you. I'm going to try to do what I can to keep Alistair from doing something drastic. But you obviously have to own up to your crime."
"Of course."
"You were talking about Tadashi earlier..."
"You're wondering if I meant it?" Morgan guessed.
"Do you really think he knows, do you really think he approves of this?"
"Frankly, I don't care if he approves of it. I've… I've talked to him, you know, I've apologized, but I feel like I have to kind of move on from Tadashi's expectations. When he was alive I expected him to change the world. Now he's gone and it has to be me, and I have to do it my way. I'm so sorry, Hiro. I still love your brother. I just can't be the person I was when he was alive. And if he wouldn't approve of that, then… I don't know."
Hiro's heart felt a little heavy.
"Just don't rob anyone else. You have talent and people who care about you. You can use it for something better than theft."
"I'll keep that in mind," Morgan promised.
Soon, all of them were standing in front of Krei.
"So. This is the malefactor who stole thousands of dollars from me." Krei said, arms crossed.
"Malefactor?" Wasabi muttered, "Who uses that word anymore?"
"This will never happen again," Morgan said, keeping her head low.
"Of course not. You're going to be locked away for a long time."
"No-" Hiro blurted, "No. Please. I know her. I can vouch for her. Please don't press charges."
"Give me one reason not to press charges."
GoGo stood up to her full height, which was still not a lot but she was definitely intimidating, "Because if you press charges, we'll reveal that you didn't donate the money out of the goodness of your heart."
"And what would stop me from turning around and revealing your identities?"
"I don't know," GoGo said, "wouldn't you be afraid if you no longer had superheroes protecting you? A lot of people hate you."
Alistair Krei scowled, thoughtful, then he turned to Morgan, "You. Malefactor. Your other option is to work for me, increasing digital security so that I can never be robbed like that again. If you abuse your position and pull another stunt like the first one I will have you arrested. Understand?"
"I understand."
"Now get out of my office, all of you. Morgan, Judy will get your information at a later date."
"Thank you, sir." She still hated him, but she could play nice if it meant she got to go back to Seth.
When they got out of Krei Tech, Hiro turned toward Morgan.
"No one knows about the Angel except for speculations online. Let's keep it that way."
"I'm not going with that name," Morgan said.
"Ask Fred, I'm sure he'd love to give you a proper hero name," Honey Lemon suggested, "Come to think of it, I don't know why we don't have proper hero names."
"I would prefer not to be referred to," GoGo said.
"I think some people call you the Yellow one," Morgan mentioned, and Wasabi snickered.
"Oh shut it, Green Guy." Wasabi burst out laughing, everyone feeling a little bit better.
"Purple person," Honey Lemon said, nodding at Hiro, who laughed.
"If I'm the Purple Person, you're the Pink Princess."
"Yes!" Honey Lemon laughed, giving them a twirl and a courtesy. Morgan looked around at them, really glad that Hiro had these people around to support him and make him laugh like this.
"Thank you, Hiro, and really, all of you."
"Don't do anything stupid that'll make us regret this," GoGo said.
"I won't."
"Good."
It was kind of late when Morgan made it back to the apartment so she expected Seth to be asleep, as they had another early shift the next morning. But when she got inside she found Seth with their head down at the kitchen table, a now cold bowl of chicken and rice sitting at Morgan's place. When Morgan walked in Seth glanced up and their eyes were a little red.
"Oh my gosh, you're not in jail."
"I'm not in jail," Morgan agreed.
"Let me warm up your food," Seth said, their voice shaking a little.
"Thanks, Seth. Thank you for being here for me." Seth glanced at the table before mustering the courage and throwing their arms around Morgan, who held them close and let herself experience how insane this whole thing had been. She was beyond lucky to be where she was right now.
"Thank you," Morgan repeated, tightening her embrace, "I love you, Seth. Thank you..."
*frantically checking my notes*
Is there... Is there a chapter where Morgan and/or Seth don't cry? It's... It's not the next chapter because that's the surgery chapter... Where is it? Where is the unbridled happiness chapter?! Whereeeee