Disclaimer: Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. Joe's Diner is, I assume, owned by someone named Joe. Or Joey. Or Joseph. Or Josephine. Or-

Chapter 5 – Major Revelation

Sometimes, it was like trying to teach a child how to walk for the first time.

Other times, it was like potty training a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Or maybe a poodle.

"Hey!"

You know what? We can come to an agreement on the breed of dog later.

Right now the only thing that Go Go was worried about was getting Fred back on track.

"You said you'd start paying attention now!"

"I am! Sort of."

Go Go and Fred were back in the simulation room, also known as Simmax, working on what Fred had called a "do-over" on the villain fighting. So being one part bored, two parts intrigued, and all parts wondering if Fred had really changed his stripes, the Korean decided to jump into a training session yet again.

Normally, she would be all for not going and doing anything strenuous on an off-day, but she was curious as to what Fred's mindset was. After all, they had spent the better part of a few days fighting someone who they thought was a new supervillain in town, only to discover that it was really Fred's mom, Mrs. Frederickson.

Laughs were had and bonds were strengthened, but when the next day came around, Fred was back at the hideout at the crack of dawn, messing around with Simmax.

Want to know how Go Go knew that?

Because Go Go was also at the base at the crack of dawn.

Normally, the only reason why she'd be up that early would be for her courier job, but there was a decision to be made on who was going to clean up Simmax after their battle with Major Blast, and Go Go drew the short straw. So, just to get it over with, she made her way over there to start at sunrise.

Only to find someone else there.

And now here we are.

They had been going at it for about two hours at a variety of different digital locales. Fred seemed to be fixated for some reason on Night Market Square, so that's where most of their sparring was happening.

But it was almost like his mind was in a different place, even though he had been making steady progress in his training. Every once in a while, he would just space out. It wasn't even like he was going off on a tangent about dumb comic books or stupid werevampires and-

Whoops. Sorry. I channeled Go Go a little bit there.

"Fred! Focus!"

"I am!"

"No! You're not!"

Go Go heaved the disc at him, and Fred effortlessly dodged it, but she could tell something was still on his mind.

"Are you still thinking about Major Blast being your mom?"

"Not even remotely!" Fred landed on a fake tree and waved his arms. "I totally wasn't thinking about that until you said that exact thing."

"Ugh." Go Go caught her disc and heaved her alternate one on her back. On command, it widened into its travel form, slamming into Fred's gut and sending him careening into the ground.

"I don't remember that...hurting as much as before."

The Korean sighed as she retrieved all of her weapons. "Fred. Something's still up. I can tell."

"Yeah, the throbbing ache in my stomach is what's up."

Go Go raised her eyebrow at the pile of Fred on the ground. "Talk to me, Fred. I don't have time for this."

He pulled up the head of his costume with a sigh. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about stuff. That's all."

She pursed her lips and bent down to his level. "Why don't we take a break? We've been at it for a while, and I'm starving anyway. Haven't had any breakfast."

All of a sudden, Fred's demeanor changed back to his excitable and goofy self. "Now you're speaking my language! Onward, to Joe's Diner!"

Dramatic cut to Joe's Diner...

OK, he was definitely acting weird.

Like...weirder than normal.

Go Go glanced up from her omelet to see something that she never thought would happen: Fred opposite the booth from her, chomping away at his pancakes.

With a knife and fork.

He was using cutlery.

"Fred."

"Hmm?"

"...You're scaring me."

"What? What am I doing?"

Go Go pointed at him with her spoon. "You're eating food like a civilized being and not like a rabid wolverine. Did you get replaced by an evil twin or something?"

"Nah. Trust me, I asked my mom whether I had an evil twin a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don't."

"And you were disappointed?"

"Obviously."

She let him take another bite of pancakes before speaking up again. "Fred, what's wrong?"

"I said nothing."

"Well, I don't believe you." Go Go took a sip of her water. "And as a card-carrying member of the Bad Liars Club, I can also tell when someone's not being truthful."

Fred sighed and finally put down his fork. She didn't quite understand why he was in this sort of mood; everything from yesterday seemed to have been wrapped up nicely.

"I can't believe that my mom was a supervillain."

Go Go recoiled slightly. "Fred, she did it for a good reason. She was inspiring your dad to be better. Just like she was doing for you."

"I know. It's just..." He looked out the window at the cars passing by. "My dad was the greatest superhero of all time. And my mom was a pretty kick-butt villain. It makes me wonder whether I'm worthy enough to keep doing this."

"Fred."

He looked up at her concerned face.

"Have you completely forgotten everything that's happened to us over the past year? We've saved the city multiple times, we've taken down two corrupt corporations, and helped countless people. And you were a part of all that."

Fred laughed quietly. "Yeah, I did do the smokescreen thing pretty good, didn't I?"

"You make the best smokescreens."

Now both of them were laughing as the waitress came to refill their drinks. Once she left, Go Go grabbed another piece of bacon. "You're lucky that you have your family. They at least understand and know. If I told my family, they'd probably have a conniption. Heck, even if I told them I was hanging out with Robbie, they'd probably want to lock me in my room like a little girl for the rest of my life."

She expected some sort of witty comment about Robbie and his dark magic tendencies, but she was again treated to silence. She looked up to see him staring at his plate.

Well, at least the pancakes were gone. But the look of worry was not.

"Oh, come on." Go Go poked his arm with the handle of her fork, jolting him out of his thoughts. "Now what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Fred, we've already established that saying the word 'nothing' doesn't work. You can't use it twice in a conversation."

He was tapping away on his phone, so she had to get his attention again. "Hey! Distractions, remember?"

Now he was avoiding looking at her. Go Go, now a little agitated, growled at him. "Fred, you can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?"

"What if it's about you?"

Fred said it so haphazardly that she almost missed it. "Huh?"

"Whoops! Bathroom!" He stood up and tried to walk by Go Go, but the errant hand came down on his forearm.

"Fred. Sit."

"But...bathroom."

"One." She held up a finger on her other hand. "You went five minutes ago. Two, I know an escape plan when I see it. Three...there's no window in the bathroom, so you can't get out that way even if you tried."

Fred slumped back down into the booth.

"You're not going to get out of this, Fred. Just talk to me."

He swirled the ice around in his drink. Go Go, in her numerous unofficial therapy sessions with everyone else, knew that letting them collect their thoughts was the best way to move forward. No point in trying to interrupt in the middle of their nerve gathering.

But it looked like, after a minute, that Fred was ready. He set his glass back down and pushed his plate to the side.

"Seeing my mom and what she did for my dad...it made me realize how special they are to each other. They've been married for a very long time. I kind of took that for granted until recently. And I want that. I want...someone like that."

Go Go just stared at him. Was she really about to have this conversation with him? She could stand talking about comic books for a while. Heck, she'd even take patrol at this point. But not-

"Girls? That's what's bothering you? Girls?"

"Not girls."

His eyes very quickly glanced up at her face, and then back down at the table.

"Just one girl."

Oh.

...Oh boy.

Well, this was going in an unexpected direction.

Also, did someone turn the heat on in the diner?

"I didn't want to say anything, but-"

"Fred." She held up her hand to stop him. "You really don't have to continue if you don't want to."

"Well, it's a little too late for that, Go Go."

They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. And then, all of a sudden...Go Go started giggling.

"Huh?"

She couldn't help it. Her fork fell to her plate as her laughs started getting more pronounced.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No!" she squeaked out, clutching her sides.

"You are!" Now he was getting angry. "I knew that-"

"No no no." Go Go was finally able to get some words out, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I'm really not. Not at you. Just...the ridiculousness of this." She fanned her face to try to cool it down. "I thought I knew a lot about everyone, but I didn't know this."

Fred turned his head away, his own cheeks flaring.

"Now I have to know. When did it happen?"

His voice lowered to a whisper. "You remember when you almost ran into me on that bike of yours and I fell onto HL's chemistry table?"

"That was my first day at school!" Go Go said. "It's been that long?"

"Like you said, it's pretty ridiculous."

She shook her head at him, her hand on her forehead. "Fred, you are a piece of work. And I mean that in the nicest way possible."

"What? You rode in on your Chariot of Awesomeness-"

"That better not be trademarked," Go Go mumbled.

"And I was staring at you like how Captain Fancy meets Laura Lance for the first time in the reboot of Captain Fancy #1 and I was going to say something to you but you were too busy raiding Wasabi's toolbox-"

"Fred."

"And then I told myself I was going to say something to you at lunch but-"

"Fred!"

Her hand slapped down in front of him, cutting Fred off. He looked up to see Go Go staring at him again.

"I literally don't remember any of this."

"Oh." He twiddled his thumbs in front of him, now even more embarrassed. "Can I ask you to not remember this? Or...unremember it?"

"No."

Fred groaned and leaned back into the bench, now looking straight up. Go Go continued to look at him. This was a side of Fred she had never seen before. There was something...awkwardly adorable about it. But she had to ask one last thing.

"Fred, those feelings you had. They never went away, did they?"

He pulled his beanie over his face, still not looking at her.

Go Go's eyebrow went up. Yup, that answered her question. She put her finger on her forehead and leaned into the table, giggling a little bit.

This whole thing was absurd. This was not the conversation she was planning on having with Fred today. She was expecting something stupid, like dramatic entrances and catchphrases and whatever Fred's animated mind could think of. Not this.

But she knew what she had to do now.

"Fred, scoot over."

His head snapped back down. "Huh?"

"Scoot over."

He moved his body towards the aisle.

"Nope. The other way, dummy."

He went back to her left as she got up, slotting into the seat next to him. Once there, she let the silence hang for a bit before making sure Fred wasn't trying to crawl under the table. He was still there, but leaning into the window as much as he could.

"I'm not going to bite you, Fred."

He inched a tiny bit closer.

"Good enough."

Go Go tapped her finger on the table as she talked to his shoulder. "Fred, I hate to be the one to be the bearer of bad news...but I've never thought about you that way. I'm sorry."

"I know you don't," Fred said quietly.

She smirked at his hand on the window ledge. "OK. Then why are you upset?"

"...Because I'm jealous."

"What?" That wasn't the answer she was expecting. "Of me?"

"Of you. Of everyone." Fred turned his gaze away from outside, but still not at her. "I mean, you guys have found people who are super awesome and caring and compliment you guys. I don't have that."

"And you don't think you'll ever find that?"

The sniff from his nose gave away the answer.

"...Freddie."

Her teammate finally looked at her, resting his chin on his hand. It wasn't every day that she gave him the Freddie name. Or any day, really.

"Robbie and I are still figuring things out. Sure, he's a cool guy, and I do like him, but it's not like we're going to magically figure things out in a day. Wasabi and Aspen have more progress than us two, but she's got her own problems to figure out." She turned her head to make sure no one could hear her. "Not to mention the whole half-human thing."

"And what about Hiro?"

"Hiro and Karmi?" Go Go reached out to grab her glass. "Those two are so disgustingly in love with each other that even thinking about them is going to make me vomit up this omelet I just ate."

Fred laughed for the first time in a while.

"My point is that not everyone finds that special someone instantly. You have all the time in the world. You may be older than all of us, but there's not a cutoff to this sort of thing."

He sighed sadly, still not entirely convinced. But a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye brought his attention back to the table. Go Go was moving his unused spoon over, landing right next to his fork.

"One day, and I'm not going to tell you when because I can't," Go Go said, "You're going to find someone who's going to see past your superhero obsessiveness and your comic book collections and your...almost overwhelming amount of energy..."

Fred leered at her, but she was quick to follow up on that part.

"And...they're going to see you for who you really are."

The fork and spoon softly clanked into each other.

"A kind...strong...loyal guy who would do anything for his friends and his family. And they're going to see that...and they're going to want to spend the rest of their life with you."

"You really think so?" Fred mumbled.

"I know so."

Go Go felt his arm come down over her shoulder, but she didn't bother moving it. She would let him have it this one time. Besides, it felt...nice.

Not that she would tell him that.

"I also know that I'm not that girl. Face it, Fred; we can barely stand each other on a good day. Imagine that amplified by a thousand-fold. We'd murder each other before the end of the year."

Fred laughed at her statement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two sat together for a couple of minutes, Fred still looking out the window and Go Go listening to the diner music. His arm was still laying on her, and his fingers were tapping on her forearm. It was always weird for her to realize no matter what sort of superhero shenanigans that the team had, there were also real normal problems to deal with. And Fred wasn't exempt from them either.

"Hey, Go Go?"

"Yeah?"

His blue eyes were finally looking back at her, a little twinkle in them. "Thanks."

"For what?" she asked.

"For telling me the truth."

Go Go smiled and patted his elbow. "I'm always going to tell you the truth, Knucklehead. Like right now..."

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath in through her nose. "You were sitting in a suit for two hours training with me. And you don't smell good."

Another laugh out of Fred. "Oh yeah. I forgot."

"Let's tell Roddy that the next thing that he needs to install at the base is showers." Go Go gingerly grabbed his arm and brought it over her head. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

After paying (which Go Go did, even after Fred's insistence he pay), the two walked out of the diner, heading off down the street. Since it was a weekend, the others would probably be waking up right now. But Go Go was only focused on doing one thing.

"I am so going to take a nap when I get back home."

"And you should shower too," Fred added. "You smell like Garbage Man."

"...That's a terrible sounding supervillain."

"Hey." Fred waved his hand dramatically. "Not every single comic that AJ Dohertz drew for was an instant classic."

Go Go let out a small chuckle. "I'll take your word for it."

They stopped at the corner, the little red man on the monitor telling them to wait. The two stood there as the cars whooshed by, no doubt heading off to their urgent destinations.

"I meant what I said earlier, Fred."

She looked up at him to see him already staring back at her.

"You can come talk to me about anything. Even if that thing is me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

Fred saw that she had her fist hanging out at the ready, and he smiled, knowing what that meant. Instinctively, he pulled his own fist out and bumped it into hers. Once hit, they separated, wiggling their fingers out as they drew their arms out.

"Ba-la-la-la-la-la-la."

Go Go turned to walk away, a smile on her face. "I'll see you at the base tonight for patrol?"

"You betcha!" Fred took a step onto the crosswalk, back in his excited mode. "You won't get any distractions from me. No sir-"

"Fred!"

A hand came forward and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back onto the sidewalk. A split second later, the truck whizzed by, running through the red light.

Go Go and Fred blinked together. They were now standing very close to each other, her hand still grasping his shirt. She had been the one with the forethought to look back at him before leaving fully, and thankfully she saw the truck careening at her teammate. Said teammate's head was, of course, in the clouds as always, and thus action was needed.

The Korean let out a heavy sigh, smoothing out Fred's shirt before making her way down the street again. "Seriously, Fred...where would you be without me?"

Fred looked over his shoulder, the vehicle long gone, and then back at her retreating body.

"Umm…splattered on some guy's windshield?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Fred/Go Go ship is one that's always sort of intrigued me. Clearly the two have a lot of interaction with each other, and I suppose it's just as possible as any of the other teammate ships that people out there have. But I just don't see it going anywhere.

Now, having said that...it's nice to have a little bit of fun with it.

Let's face it: Fred and Go Go are complete polar opposites, and people like to say that opposites attract. That's true...but we're talking about the North Pole and South Pole here. Opposites, sure. But they're so far apart that it doesn't even matter.

But they are friends still, and I hope I was able to showcase that a little bit here.

Some of you, if you've read my earlier stories, may know the person that does have an eye for him. We won't go into that right now, but I can say that I may have a future one-shot/story on someone else that Fred falls for...and it's not a member of the team.

Or even a hero, for that matter.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.