Chapter 11

The younger Hamada only thought for a moment after acknowledging Fred's question on the whereabouts of his brother. Except he wasn't entirely certain of that yet.

"I mean, at least... If Tadashi wasn't in the explosion," Hiro glanced upward, reflecting now on his more recent research about other extreme disasters. "Or.. with scenarios from terrorist attacks, like 9-11... or big warehouse fires.. even atomic bombings, the heat was so great, so intense, that it melted… it incinerated everything."

"But... I doubt the explosion at the convention hall was hot enough like that, for long enough. It.. it couldn't have burned him up... completely. I didn't even get any serious flash burns. And my.. my microbots, they were actually kind of fireproof. Just mostly iron, but only the outside parts were found half melted. They should have found.. something, from Tadashi." He didn't want to say it, but it had been said that teeth were the hardest substance to incinerate and often the last left of the remains afterwards, let alone anything metal like a set of keys. But how, how could there be nothing?

Hiro finally paused long enough again for Fred to interject. "Wait, we didn't even know that. How did you know that?"

The teen exhaled, wincing slightly, "I.. I hacked into the police records earlier... with Baymax's help. I had to find out."

"Yes... Wait," Fred furrowed his brow in thought, set his jaw, then leveled with Hiro as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "You mean there was more to this, and the cops did not tell you guys?"

Hiro nodded. "Why would they cover it up?"

"Unless they were lazy, and assumed he just, uh.. completely, well.. you know," Fred frowned. "And then got too busy with Callaghan and Krei Tech to follow up. When did you suspect something?"

"They're hiding something…" he whispered more softly, hugging his knees. "And these dreams, I feel like now they're like Dashi's way of telling me something's not right. Kind of like how Baymax led me to the other microbots," Hiro looked away from Fred in thought, debating again on telling him about his project for a search and rescue robot. Many of these conclusions also had come from all the research he had done on emergency rescues and fireproof materials.

"Okay... if Tadashi's not dead.. how come he hasn't tried to contact you by now?" Fred looked very much serious in trying to figure this out also.

Hiro shook his head. "He's in a place he can't get out of? Or he did get injured and.. just isn't able…"

"So.. how are the dreams subliminal?" The tired redhead gave him a confused look.

"Um, I- I'm not sure," Hiro wasn't one for guessing, but that was a question he could not logically explain as of yet either. That, and he wasn't very confident in trying to discuss anything that was spiritually based. Because if it wasn't his brother's vibes, then could it be his parents looking over him? Tadashi used to tell him when they were younger, that their parents were always there in spirit to guide them. Their Japanese grandmother also had reassured them with this from time to time when she talked with Aunt Cass on the video calls. But if that was really true, that his parents are spiritual guardians, why did they even let Tadashi do what he did?

Hiro exhaled, finding something else to say. "I was watching one of our videos from the expo, and saw a mini portal there."

"Oh yeah... The one for making international deliveries happen in seconds?" Fred nodded.

"That one, yes. I mean, it's a hunch... But what if.. What if Tadashi tried to use it, to escape also?"

Fred just thought for a moment, processing this new idea. "That.. That could happen. But even though we found the prof's daughter in one... wouldn't that be terribly cliché to assume the same thing again?"

"Um, yeah… was just trying to figure out where he could have gone. It's kind of weird, the way both my parents and Tadashi just.. inexplicably disappeared." Hiro laid back on his sleeping bag with a defeated flop.

"Yeah.. I'm sorry about that, buddy."

"I just... wish I knew why…" Hiro uttered the words before he could stop himself. He didn't really expect an answer though, especially not sympathy. The most he heard from Fred was a sigh as the younger Hamada stared at the ceiling, and he felt oddly relieved. He didn't really want to be fussed over again right now.

"Maybe… Callaghan did save Tadashi, and he was lying to you?" Fred finally suggested. He also stretched out on the floor, using Hiro's legs as a head rest. "Cause if it was a cover?"

Hiro didn't respond right away, because that was something he wondered about many times before. He also was momentarily distracted by the awkward weight on his legs. "It was kind of weird, the more I think about it… how Tadashi walked with me away from the Convention Center to talk, instead of just talking on the way there to get my microbots."

"You weren't getting the microbots?" Fred then propped himself up on his elbow.

"No," his eyes were still fixated on the details in the ornate ceiling tiles. He purposely did that as a way to keep himself from getting overly upset from that.

"Wow, slick villain tactic strikes again! Except this time it's the guy you'd think of last! Since those two worked so close together, maybe Callaghan had asked Tadashi to be his accomplice?" The fanboy spoke with his free hand to stress his point.

Hiro rolled to the side his stitches were not on and propped his head on his hand to look at Fred again. This time the younger Hamada was momentarily perplexed as he processed that new theory, because he really never thought his own faithful brother would turn to the dark side. "Of course, yeah… Remember when the police wanted to question me after the Krei Tech incident?"

"Yeah."

"I felt like Callaghan was trying to frame me, connect me to Yokai. But when I got upset about my brother, they stopped asking."

Fred made a face. "So maybe there was a switch, between him and Tadashi?"

"Or... they were checking to make sure I believed that Tadashi died... To make sure I didn't realize something else was going on. Y'know, since we all saw who Callaghan was."

"Dude! If those two were also working on government projects, it could be that there was more going on behind the scenes that we haven't realized!" Fred sat up, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize that fact.

Hiro nodded, even though his mind still refused to fully grasp this new idea yet.

"Or like why Tadashi got the private lab? That's something that actually irked Wasabi."

"Can I ask you this," Hiro also sat up all the way also to look his friend in the eye. He finally decided to ask the question, despite how crazy it sounded. Despite what it may mean in hindsight, because he also convinced himself he could use this idea as another cover for looking into which gangs were on to their team. "Can you, or your dad, help me find out what happened to Tadashi. It's that serious... Please?"

Fred looked at him for a moment before finally agreeing. "Um.. okay, sure."

"Just… don't tell the others. Baymax knows, but.. the rest, they'll probably think I'm nuts, or still in denial. Please?"

"Hey, you're not crazy… that's supposed to be my job! But I'll promise this for you," Fred patted Hiro on the back, then held out his fist for a fist bump.

Hiro's smiled slightly, following through with the gesture. He had to tell himself again to have faith in his new friend. Hiro had debated on telling Gogo at one point, but lately, her intensity was a little too overbearing for him. The mechanical engineer had been much more enjoyable as another Nerd Lab classmate, so why is she taking everything he does now so seriously? Unless this was typical for most women to get all worked up about upsetting situations when it comes to people they care about.

"So.. the evil Baymax was actually a plot device to look for Tadashi?" Fred rubbed his chin in thought.

"Eh… heh, yeah," Hiro hesitated, almost taking back his previous thought. The fanboy had somehow figured out his previous request from the other day. "But I am still worried about the other Baymax," he reiterated.

"When do you want to check out those portals?" Fred asked, after another moment of thought.

Hiro flopped onto his back again in thought. "Tomorrow, maybe… but there's a lot of other stuff to also do."


The start of the next day was anything short of ordinary, especially when they were greeted by the man of the house. Fred's dad had made it in that morning to check on everyone after hearing about the earthquakes. It also was the first time Wasabi and Gogo met the much talked about namesake in person.

However, Fred was not in his room, nor was Hiro anywhere to be found between the two rooms. Their belongings were still there, with the exception of no pillow and blanket on Fred's bed. After a quick brainstorm, they decided to check down in the bunker first. Mr. Lee agreed to accompany them, since Wasabi and Gogo were not given the entry code yet.

The bunker was indeed where the two had went. Except at this point, Hiro had fallen asleep while sitting at the desk with the video monitors. Fred was curled up under his blanket on a couch to one side.

"Hopefully they got some sleep," Wasabi shook his head in disbelief.

"Probably not… if Hiro's that worried about something," Gogo walked over to where Hiro was, glancing at the vid-cams mostly highlighting the early morning downtown streets and shops of San Fransokyo. There were a couple of other videos that were harder to distinguish.

She glanced over to the nerd in his blue SFIT hoodie, really wondering how he didn't fall out of the chair. The boy was sitting on the edge of the seat and his head rested on his left arm, while his right arm dangled down towards the floor.

Rather than being mean and pulling the chair all the way out from under him, as she often did, Gogo pushed it in on the younger Hamada instead. Being mindful of her actions now was more in respect to the company she was with. But as a whole, she just simply found it hard to just be 'nice'.

Hiro still sat up with a start, but not yet fully awake yet. "Hold on… just, almost—" he muttered incoherently.

"Good morning, genius," Gogo leaned in to greet him as she gripped his shoulders to make sure he was awake. Yes, she was totally being uncharacteristically nice again. Hopefully Wasabi did not take that the wrong way. It still bothered her that he made the assumption she left him in favor of the younger Hamada. Yes, she did prefer Hiro's company over his, if she had to chose, but the teen really was not the reason why she didn't want to be involved with Wasabi.

"Find anything new?" Wasabi stepped over to squint at the monitors.

"Ugh," Hiro rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the sleep. He sat back in the chair, only to sit bold upright again after realizing they were there. "Uh… nothing. Nothing really," he quickly clicked a key on the keyboard to collapse the videos from view.

That final action confirmed her suspicions. He clearly was up to something, which somehow didn't surprise her anymore.

"So you just wanted to brush up on your deskjitsu?" Wasabi gave him a cautionary glance.

Gogo sat on the edge of the adjacent desk, crossing her arms. Wasabi seemed to be keeping his word in being more involved again. How far Hiro will let him go was her next little bet.

"No. No… just planning our attack… for later," Hiro smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his thick hair. She just happened to notice the circles under his eyes too.

"Oh gosh, Dad!" Fred's exclamation interrupted the Q & A session with Hiro, drawing their attention to the other side of the room.

"Everything going alright?" Mr Lee asked, once Fred released him from his super tight hug.

"Hah, well, just a little sore, but I'm good," Fred said, even though he appeared very sore and stiff as he stood up. "Oh hey, lemme introduce you the team! …or well, part of the team. Honey Lemon is at home, from actually being one of the earthquake's causalities. And Baymax – a really awesome karate-kicking healthcare robot – is upstairs, recharging."

At that, they more or less stopped what they were doing to stand up and move more into view of the old man with peppered hair, and lightly tinted aviator-style eyeglasses. They had spoken with Mr. Lee on video chat a couple times before, but this was the first time they actually met in person.

"So.. yeah, this is Hiro, the brains of our operation – quite literally – and also our resident robotics expert," Fred motioned toward him. Mr. Stan Lee nodded and stepped forward to shake hands with the younger Hamada.

"And then, Gogo Tomago – not her real name, of course – but seriously, her speed is her secret weapon. She's also very good at making stuff go fast!" GoGo greeted Mr. Lee politely. She also couldn't help notice the excessive flattery Fred was using in introducing them. The fanboy could very likely make swamp sludge sound appealing.

"Wasabi is one precise physicist by day, but a kickass swordsman by night… plus, he also knows how to make a fully functioning light saber!"

"As I understand, science is your super power," the jovial old man nodded, smiling at the group. "It is through the marvel of science, that many others I have come to know have found their calling."

Fred just smiled, beaming. "It totally is, which is so cool!"

"Well then, now that we know that everyone is accounted for, let's head back upstairs to break our fast, with some breakfast!"

They could not argue with that, and the group proceeded to follow suite. Until something rather alarming caught Gogo's attention by the other leather couch there.

At this point, all niceties were off. She picked up one of her mag-lev disks to look at it closer, as her temper slowly came to a boil. The finish of the manufactured paint job was well done, complete with a clear protective coat. Crisp lines separated the different pastel colored rings on the circular rainbow . Then on the edge of the two disks was a decal of the My Little Pony, Rainbow Dash, flying along at top speed.

"Yo, hosebrain!" she turned toward the youngest one in the room, her mag-lev disk in question now resting on the top of the couch. The speedster automatically knew only he knew how to resurface it like that.

"Explain!"

Hiro somehow managed a balanced mix of both amusement and fear on his face before he finally thought of something to say.

Wasabi face-palmed while muttering, "Here we go again…"

Fred clamped his hands on his mouth, just to keep his amusement from being too obvious. Right away she realized that this must have been another prank they decided to pull on her. When will those two boneheads ever learn?

"I thought you liked Rainbow Dash," came Hiro's straightforward reply.

"Does it not fill you with smiles?" Fred was brave enough to also ask.

"Did I ask you to do this?" Her eyes were barely slits as she glared at him, all the while doing her best to keep from losing her temper.

"No," Hiro explained, keeping his tone level. "But I didn't ask for your help with my GSW either."

"This is going to cost you a whole lot more than the $20 from last night if you don't fix it today!"

"Today?"

"Today, or I'm not helping you anymore!" she shoved the disk into his hands before storming out of the room to go upstairs.


"So… there you have it, on As Our World Turns," Fred explained to his dad, nervously laughing a little.

"Shut up, Fred. Please," was all that Wasabi could say from behind his hand, face-palming yet again.

"Somehow, these little skirmishes do not surprise me either," the elder one reassured them, knowingly. "Are you related?" Mr. Lee prompted Hiro.

Hiro's eyes grew wide in complete surprise. "No, no.. definitely no.. not at all!" he blurted out, trying to not sound too shocked as he followed the others out.

"They're just really—" Fred was cut short from Hiro jumping in just to shut him up.

"Short! Yes… since we're the same height… or something… it's easy to think that," the younger Hamada tried to elaborate as he walked with them down the dark hall. Mr. Lee's assumption was bad enough, but he really did not want Fred to also start discussing romantic possibilities. Not now, especially with an elder that he barely knew, along with Wasabi giving him equally concerning looks. He also felt that the sibling talk would eventually lead to a discussion about the lost of his brother, and that was another detail he rather avoid. But if Fred's dad didn't know yet, he would be surprised. It seemed like anyone important in San Fransokyo knew about the explosion at SFIT's Convention Center now.

By the time they reached the main level of the mansion, Hiro found Gogo in Fred's room, getting together what was left of her armor for her suit. The others went ahead for breakfast, but he wanted to get her so they could all eat together.

"Sorry," Hiro started, as he knelt down to pull the fully combined set of mag-lev disks in shield form from under Fred's couch. They were all still very yellow with the black pinstripe and red accents. "The other ones were just an older beta set I had worked on, to test a new kind of resurfac—"

As soon as he had handed over her maglev shield set, the feisty rebel had attempted to punch him.

Attempted, because Hiro had caught her hand to stop her. He was bold enough to keep baiting her temper, however. "I still can't believe you fell for—"

"Don't think you're off the hook, nerd," she growled at him, and in one smooth move had slung her disks to her back so she could grab his arm. Then Gogo turned with her left shoulder pressing into his chest. By the time he realized what was happening, he had no choice but to follow through with her throw.

"Oww," Hiro groaned, once his back made hard contact with the carpeted floor. It came up much faster than he had expected that time.

"Didn't know you were a Brony," was her next statement as she turned away from him, to place her disk set with the rest of her belongings.

"No way," the young genius quickly denied as he sat up. He glanced once to Baymax, now waddling over to them. "Fred is."

"Right," she didn't sound very convinced.

"Hello, Hiro. I heard a sound of distress," Baymax started, looking over and apparently scanning Hiro.

"I'm fine," Hiro forced a smile as he rose to his feet, "Just practicing some Judo again."

Baymax just looked from him to Gogo, tilting his head slightly. She crossed her arms, sighing. The younger Hamada could only imagine the sort of conclusion Baymax was drawing from his readings at that point. He probably saw much more from their emotional states.

"Practice caution, Hiro," he simply stated, very likely on an emotional level as well as a physical one. Hiro rubbed his neck, nodding, as he walked away from his healthcare robot.

"So, um, are you.. leaving?" Hiro asked Gogo, still aware of her attitude. The whereabouts of the bicycle she was riding yesterday before the earthquake was never really discussed, until he just thought about that now. He heavily doubted the public transportation systems were in operation at this time.

"Maybe," she just said, then looked up from what she was doing to make brief contact. "Unless you want me to stay."

It was then the reality of her leaving really hit him. "Why would I not want you to?"

"After the way you were acting yesterday…"

Hiro was silent for a beat, knowing what she meant, and suddenly felt guilty all over again. It took him another moment to find the best words to explain himself. "Yeah…I- I wasn't really myself."

She glanced in Baymax's direction, then looked at Hiro while placing a hand on his shoulder to emphasize her concern. "Seriously though… are you okay, Hiro?"

Hiro nodded, feeling increasingly uncomfortable about being put on the spot again. "I.. don't know anymore," he finally sighed. "But.. I'm trying.."

"Look, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad yesterday," Gogo attempted to make eye contact with his dodgy gaze. "I'm just worried that if you can't trust me— or any of us – then who can you go to?"

Hiro just shrugged, trying hard to think of something more to say that wasn't another apology. He did have so much he wanted to tell her, but he just couldn't find the words to explain it. Deep down, he was afraid Gogo would not understand any his motives. The last thing he wanted was to deal with more of her anger from his knucklehead moments, which, oddly enough, wasn't the same when he pulled pranks on her. All he could do right now was move his mouth, completely unable to find the words as his heart pounded and his hands grew sweaty.

At this point, Baymax pulled him in with one arm for a hug, while at the same time encompassing Gogo with his other arm. "Those who experience PTSD need trust and support from their loved ones."

"Oh gosh, Baymax… ?" Hiro had to protest in embarrassment. He tweaked his robot's programming to keep him from saying too much in certain company, in adherence to the patient confidentiality law. But lately, Hiro noticed Baymax somehow would find ways to get around that if the robot 'felt' strongly enough about any given situation.

"Effective communication in a relationship, just like trust, can help you to understand each other and share a better friendship," the nurse-bot advised meaningfully.

"He's gotta point," Gogo actually smiled in response, buried within the billows of Baymax vinyl. Somehow the ridiculousness if this also replaced Hiro's complete embarrassment with a smile about being in a bear hug just inches away from the sassy mechanical engineer. At that, Baymax sensed they were more at ease and released them.

"It's just… the more I get to know you… the more I'm afraid.. that- that you'll go away…" Hiro finally found the courage to describe his biggest concern with Gogo. He really liked her, except he didn't want to get hurt again from losing her. That was also why he was resistant to the idea of opening up to her, intimately. His eyes shifted from the floor to the door, then back to her again.

Gogo stepped in to put an arm around him, to show her appreciation for his openness. Her sincere action, in turn, really helped boost his confidence. "I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon," she tousled his hair. "Unless… you keep messing with my stuff."

Hiro smiled back, "Only if you stop teasing me."

"No."

"Why?" he pouted. This hardly seemed fair at all.

"That's how I get you to talk, genius," she punched him in the arm.

"And laughter is medicine," Baymax also informed them, somehow understanding the pattern their jests.

"Yeah, thanks," Hiro winced, but then he turned on his foot to nervously look back at the doorway again for anyone. "So.. How about we go for breakfast, before they start worrying?"


Hiro stood in the cold rain on the small roof top patio at his aunt's house. Again, he fancied the idea of incorporating an insulated wet suit into the design of his new set of armor, and perhaps also for the girls, as something warmer to wear in weather like this. He currently wore his first set of battle-worn chest armor that he made when they when up against Yokai. It fit a little more snugly now, and of course, it did nothing in keeping him very dry or warm. All except for his head. Hiro sighed. His big brain was entertaining more ideas again, in its desire to avoid thinking about what he didn't what to. Water drops ran down the outside of Hiro's helmet visor as he watched his red armored healthcare robot lay down another blue tarp across the tile roof of the house. Baymax shut off his jet boots to lightly land on the peak edge of the roof in order to place a few more bricks on top of the tarp to hold it in place.

Thankfully the rain started falling that morning, and it wasn't coming down very hard. Already, he had also helped their neighbors cover their roofs after noticing they were in a similar situation. Hence the super suit, as Hiro needed to hitch a ride on Baymax to fly over to the buildings.

Once the large red robot secured the tarp on the roof, Baymax landed next to the young hero. "Your body temperature has dropped significantly, Hiro," he said after a moments glance at his charge. It was not the first time his guardian voiced his concern about Hiro's condition. "It is recommended to go inside now that the task is completed."

"Can't argue with that anymore, buddy," Hiro turned around from after setting one of the potted plants upright. A couple others were cracked open from falling, and he decided to leave that muddy mess alone for later.

Aunt Cass also came out on the patio at that point to check on things. She was wearing a yellow rain coat, but also had his old dark green rain coat slung over her arm. "Hey, tough guy, how's everything?"

"Roof's covered."

"Oh, wonderful! The others have made headway down stairs by clearing away much of the rubble by the front entrance too," Aunt Cass smiled. "I brought this for you, sweetie."

"Thanks, Aunt Cass… but, I'm going in," Hiro declined the raincoat. That briefly reminded him of how much he also hated having to wear a jacket over his Halloween costume when he was younger.

"Well, that's even better!" his aunt put a hand around his shoulders as she followed him through the patio door.

"I will fly down to the front entrance," Baymax told them. After a quick assessment, he concluded he would not easily fit through the regular size patio door with his armor on.

"Okay, see you later."

Hiro took off his helmet, stepping around fallen items on the floor of his once shared bedroom, as he and his aunt made their way over to the stairs. Aunt Cass also paused to look at the handful of buckets and mixing bowls placed around the area where the roof was leaking to make sure it had stopped.

"Once we get most of the café cleared, I would like for you to pack up everything along the walls over here.. and there," she gently reminded her nephew, gesturing to his side and the one with the window on Tadashi's side. "It's just temporary… I just need the walls cleared so they can be inspected for damage."

"Y-yeah," Hiro finally confirmed after some hesitation. "I'll get to that after I change."

Doing something about the bedroom attic had pretty much become a touchy subject between him and Aunt Cass. Aside from her nagging reminders to just keep it clean and tidy, the younger Hamada started to also get requests about what to do with Tadashi's side. Hiro finally told her, almost a little too harshly at one point, that he'll be the one to pack up whatever else that he didn't want to keep, when he was ready. The empty boxes she had been bringing up still have been sitting around there for the last couple of months, however. It was hard, just because he was torn between not wanting the memories, and that possible what-if glimmer of hope that maybe his brother wasn't really gone. Even then, there was that time earlier in the summer that Tadashi had thought about moving out to his own place. That notion quickly took a backseat after their jail-bird incident. Lately, the younger Hamada was simply too busy to go up to his room. If he wasn't in the garage or the SFIT lab, he was in the living room eating something he found leftover in the fridge. He hardly had the desire to go to his room to sleep, with so much going on.


GoGo set aside the shovel to grab a push broom again to sweep more of the broken glass on the sidewalk right by the cafés front door. The broken window panes were boarded up yesterday to keep out any unwanted visitors. The overhang, or what was left of it, still protected them from the rain. Somehow, the task of cleaning up the broken tiles that came from the roof had set Fred off into a lengthy explanation about how mighty they must be, like worker ants. Once they pushed together the rubble, they were shoveling it into a flat bed truck that was provided. (Or more like, she was. He kept stopping to talk.)

At that, the hopeless fan boy continued describing in greater detail how amazing Ant-man was. He was a superhero that was a lot like them, because both Hank Pym and the new guy were just ordinary people who relied on science and totally amazing suits to give them their super powers. But not without its share of trouble from the experimental designs, of course. Pym's company also had been the leader in technology for San Fransokyo before Krei Tech took over the city by storm a few years ago. That was the only bit of information that actually had some worth out of this whole discussion. Gogo decided his moment of super hero wonder was also brought on after Fred's dad showed them yet another secret room on the main level of the mansion. It was a type of debriefing room for superheroes from the last century, only because having one secret hideout would be too predictable.

Fred's stories were all very enlightening, but she had more concerning matters to worry about. Like why did Fred and Hiro go back to the surveillance bunker in the middle of the night? Since Aunt Cass left them to check on Hiro, she took advantage of the opportunity to talk more about 'business'.

"Awesome, Fred," Gogo paused long enough to pop her gum as she looked at the redhead clad in a borrowed yellow rain coat. Time to change the subject. "So about yesterday, where did you guys confront the gang members?"

"In the mall," Fred paused, leaning on the handle of the snow shovel. "Or did you mean where in the mall?"

"The part of town you were in," she asked more specifically.

Fred just snorted. "Downtown, like off the east side."

"What did they look like?"

"Like.. gangsters."

Gogo glared at him, loosing her patience. "Specifics!"

"Um, mostly strong guys, typical street clothes, some of them had weapons… from guns to knives and swords…"

"Any girls?" she popped her gum.

"Girls.. what?" Fred wrinkled his face in amusement, finding that question strange. But she just met his look with one of continued seriousness. He was probably happy that she was actually talking with him. "Well, yes… there was this one lady Hiro went to check, but she already had someone helping her."

"Some really good looking Asian chic, who worked there," the fan boy glanced up, rubbing his chin as he pictured the lady again. "Kind of tall too. She left Hiro tongue-tied afterwards."

Gogo just raised her eyebrow, doing her best to not give into his teasing nature. His details about said girl, on the other hand, those were something to be concerned about.

"Who was the other person with her?"

"Oh.. some Asian guy. Very GQ in all his designer duds," Fred responded just as casually. Although now he also was starting to look suspicious. "Why?"

Gogo shook her head. Until she got Hiro to give his side of the story, she only had her assumptions to go by. "Something not good."

"Seriously, what?" Apparently, all the half finished conversations going around were beginning to get to Fred.

"Okay then," Gogo popped her gum again. "Yesterday, when I sent out the alert before the earthquake? That was for a robbery in progress. A tall Japanese girl in geisha garb and makeup, and wearing roller skates, was making a break for it."

"Whoa… that would have been cool to see!" Fred looked totally amused again.

"Not the first time I've seen someone like that though," Gogo pursed her lips.

Before Fred could ask anything else, he was momentarily startled by Baymax nearly dropping in, between the flat-bed truck them.

"Oh, hey…hi there!" the English major greeted the tall red one. "What's up?"

"The damaged roof," Baymax looked up briefly, in literal response to his question. "I cannot enter through the door without causing more damage."

"Where is Hiro?" Gogo noticed he was by himself. In fact, she found it curious how much more independent the robot was becoming lately, and often did not wait around for instruction from Hiro. Whether that was a good thing or not, she wasn't sure yet.

"He is changing clothing to raise his body temperature," Baymax explained, then looked at their clean-up work. "Do you require assistance?"

Fred looked at his shovel, then back to Baymax. "If you are offering, totally! I really should not be doing this. "

"Yes, you are correct, Fred. You should not exert yourself if you have injury to your ribs," the healthcare robot observed. "However, performing a proper lifting technique would not cause strain to your torso. Were you practicing proper lifting techniques?"

"Heh… yes? I think," Fred patted the tall red robot's arm, otherwise disregarding his concern. "But I know you can do it better!"

"We still need to check on the garage," Gogo sighed, remembering the hole Fred showed her. "I'll go open the big door there since the sidewalk's cleared."

The speedster hefted up on the handle of the garage door to lift it open. It was a an old-fashioned balanced weight that required manual operation, fortunately. She expected a mess, and it was. Fortunately, the work benches and built in shelves remained intact. The items they contained had gone everywhere though. She was about to turn and get the others, when something shiny and red caught her eye. It wasn't a part of Baymax's old armor either.

Knocked over by a larger crate from a shelf, Tadashi's moped was down on its side, half covered with some canvas and more plastic storage containers. A small pang of sadness came over her, seeing it in that state. The elder Hamada was so proud and excited the day he got the shiny new scoot. Once it became known that she was as much of a mechanic as she was a mechanical engineer, Tadashi kept asking her questions on how to properly care for it, every day.

He was such a dork, Gogo sighed as she walked in to clear up some of the mess around the area. The least she could do was straighten up things and stand it back up. It was very likely Aunt Cass was keeping the moped around for Hiro when he got old enough. The garage was the only place they go to there, and it had been completely out of sight before. There was hardly anything that was Tadashi's in the garage, for that matter. The speedster found it ironic how much she stood in defense of the elder Hamada when it came to his stuff. Seeing what Hiro did to Baymax that one night took a few long moments for her to process, and even then… it didn't make sense until later. At least the overly zealous genius had left his brother's moped alone. For now.

What did catch her eye was that the gas tank was still half full. That was not a good idea if it was in storage, because she had to totally drain the tank on her motorcycle back home since she wasn't allowed to drive it while her license was suspended.

"Whoa… no, this isn't going to happen in a day," Fred remarked, once he and Baymax made their way over to the garage. He was right about that, as there was also many smaller parts, molds, tubing, and printer spindles that used to be inside the containers, shaken out from on high to the floor below.

Conversation between Aunt Cass and Hiro about what best to do with the hole in the wall became more audible. It was her understanding that Baymax was trapped in the garage yesterday, so he had no choice but to bust through the wall. Currently, Hiro was trying to convince his aunt that they could build a door there instead. Especially since the only access points to the garage were from outside the house. However, Aunt Cass wasn't very thrilled about the idea of having a visible door to the garage in her café area. If there was one thing the younger Hamada apparently was good at, it was persuading his aunt. Gogo sighed, deciding now was a good time to save her from Hiro's persistence.

"Hey, genius," she called out to him.

"Yeah?"

Gogo glanced sidelong at the moped in the clutter, the tarp still in her hands. "Is it in storage?"

"Um, yeah," Hiro actually hesitated at that. "Why?"

I hope you've not been sneaking rides on it, She thought as she popped her gum. It was for Tadashi's sake that she had to be bossy again.

"If it's in storage, you'll need to drain the gas out of the tank. Stale gas rots out the engine."

"Oh really?" Apparently this was news to Aunt Cass as well. She stepped closer, adding her confirmation. "I just couldn't bring myself to sell it. Then Hiro finally admitted he wanted to keep the scooter."

"Well, I thought it was better to put fuel stabilizer in it," Hiro contested Gogo's previous advice. "Because an empty tank could rust."

"So you have been doing your homework. But if it's gonna be out of commission for a very long time, draining the tank might be better," she looked at him coolly. "Do you also know what to do about the sparkplugs, the battery, and the oil?"

"Yes."

Gogo checked over it, looking to see if the battery was also taken care of with a tender device. It was only unhooked from the connector cables. "Almost… battery's still gonna lose charge like that."

He practically had that annoyed 'where are you going with this' look on his face. Knowing more than he did had that effect on the nerd.

"How long ago did you look at this?"

"Last month. Why?"

"Just making sure you'll still have a moped to drive when you're actually old enough," Gogo said smartly, then popped her gum. "I'll show you later after the rest of this is cleaned up.

"Oh thank you, dear," Aunt Cass thanked her for Hiro. "I didn't even realize that part of it!"

"Yeah, small carburetor engines are tricky. But… I think Tadashi would be more at rest knowing we're taking care of it right,"

Aunt Cass nodded. "Hey, I'll get some more boxes for you to pack upstairs. In the meanwhile, I'll be over here taking inventory of the damage."

"You can take the armor off, Baymax," Hiro rubbed his neck in thought. "Then ask Aunt Cass if she needs help."

The healthcare robot complied, giving Gogo that opportunity to talk with Hiro as she and Fred followed him up the two flights of stairs.

"About the girl from the mall, what do you remember about her?"

While still walking up, Hiro tried to turn and look at them in mild shock upon the mention of the woman. His gaze locked on Fred before he spoke, giving her the impression the mascot said something he shouldn't have. "The girl… from the mall?"

"Yes, the one you helped."

"What do you need to know?" he stopped walking, halfway up to his room.

"What did she look like?" she gave him her 'speak, or suffer the consequences' look. Fred seemingly had his lips sealed now.

"Asian, probably Japanese. Wore designer clothes, uhm… dragon tattoos."

"Was her hair down, or tied up like a geisha? Any makeup?"

Hiro looked at her intently, not bothering to answer her first question, "You have seen her before?"

"I saw a woman dressed up in a geisha dress, face paint, and roller skates, robbing a store earlier that morning!" she felt like a broken record at this point.

"Who…?"

"That's why I am asking you. Need to verify who you saw!"

"Didn't you say you knew the chic in the skates?" Fred had to ask.

"She's a Fujita," GoGo lowered her voice as she leveled with the two. "I used to see them in LA, before Yama's gang lost the turf war—"

Hiro shook his head and suddenly turned to go the rest of the way upstairs.

"They're also Yama's Elite," GoGo finished her sentence, also continuing the stairs.

"They? How many are there?" Fred wondered.

"Three, last I saw of them," GoGo watched Hiro more closely since he clearly looked upset now.

"What happened?" she asked the young leader once she reached him.

"I never saw her before.. I had my guard down," Hiro said quietly. "She's the one who tagged me.. when I was helping her."

"But she knew who you were…?" GoGo crossed her arms. He didn't have anything to say in response. What does it take to get him to come out with it?

"You mean your identity had been blown?" Fred was left to make his own conclusions again.

"Y-yes," he said, then sighed. He looked a little more defeated now. "She tricked me.. and saw me without my visor. I was so stupid!"

The three of them exchanged glances. This was serious, and she understood now why he was so worried earlier. At least now she knew what he, what they were going up against. But really, why was it so hard for him to tell them. It makes her more upset when he doesn't tell her.

"This stuff will happen… it's Murphy's Law," GoGo sighed as she put a hand on Hiro's shoulder, "But it's how we work together to fix it that makes or breaks us... okay?"

"Yeah, so… what're we going to do?" Fred rubbed his hands together.


AN:

Okay, I could add more to this chapter, but I decided to end it here and get this puppy posted. Been sitting on it long enough!

To be honest, I am totally making my AU theory up as to what happened with Tadashi and the fire, since there is hardly anything clearly stated if there was a body found or not.

All the same, Hiro is still leery of Gogo at this stage. And this thing between Hiro and Fred is strictly platonic. Calm yoselves!. ;p I love how Hiro and Fred get along so well though (even though they make Gogo so mad/worried/jealous) Hiro's still learning…

So.. there's also this song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, about a moped. The imagery I have gotten of Tadashi when he got his moped, and the cheers (and jeers) of the others in the lab about it is just priceless! I can't leave it out… the moped will live on!

Robowarrior16: Just one question I hope you can answer for me. When Gogo says she had a 'short fling' with Wasabi, does she mean she had a sexual relationship with him?

Yes. Yes, she did. That is only a small part of Hiro's inner turmoil. *wink*