Okay, hey everyone! I know some of you weren't very satisfied with the last chapter, but hopefully this one will tie up a lot of the loose ends :) Hopefully you enjoy it, but if you don't, please at least have the common courtesy not to flame. I'm doing what I can to make this story enjoyable for all of you-please keep that in mind as you read. Thanks!

0o0

"Dr. Elephun!" Ophelia rushes into the office of her mentor, Travis at her side. "Bad news! The patient broke loose during the power outage, and now he's run off!"

"I know," Dr. Elephun replies calmly, spinning around in his chair and turning to face them.

"We have no idea where he is, and he could be in grave dang—" She cuts herself off midsentence, her eyes going wide with confusion as the words sink in. "Wait, you already know? But how?"

"Simple, my dear." Dr. Elephun gestures for both of his assistants to join him at his computer. "I had hoped that the patient's transition back into consciousness would be a peaceful one—that we'd be able to slowly reintroduce him back into functioning in everyday life and help him get used to his new body. Heaven knows that it's difficult enough when you have to get used to one new limb and not a whole slew of them." He flexes his own hand, a robotic replacement he'd fashioned for himself after losing his own arm in a tragic accident years back—the same incident that had sparked his interest in the field of using robotics to help humans who had gone through similar situations to live their lives again. "But," he continues, bringing up a map of the city on his computer, "as much as I hoped for the best, I also prepared for the worst, so when we were doing the repairs, I built in a couple of safety features—a tracking device."

"You did what?!" Travis looks slightly worried by this news.

"Isn't that violating his rights somehow?" Ophelia puts in.

"Not to worry," Dr. Elephun reassures them, even as he zeroes in on a little red dot on the map. "It's only in the medical bracelet he was wearing—the ones that all the patients in the hospital wear. He can get rid of that easily enough, but it's enough to let us know where he is and if he's safe."

"Well, if we know where he is, why don't we go get him?" Ophelia asks, biting at the bit with impatience. "He was on a very low charge where he left. I think the lightning strike gave him a little extra power, but not much. He's probably wandering around in a daze or passed out somewhere by now!"

"No, he's not," Dr. Elephun returns "Because of the second safeguard I put in. I knew that once he was conscious, we'd need to find out who he was and where his family lived if he had one, or else to another loved one we could contact them and let them know that he was alright. Unfortunately, I also knew that after being in a coma and suffering all of the trauma that he did, his memories might have been damaged, or at least greatly suppressed. Thus, when we were going through his personal affects near the beginning, trying to figure out who he was, and I discovered the charred remains of a picture of a girl, I took the liberty of planting that image in the part of his cranium we restored with the built-in mission to locate her as soon as he left the hospital so that he'd at least be able to be with someone he knew."

"Dr. Elephun, that's definitely a violation of his rights!" Ophelia looks slightly horrified. "He's still a human, not a machine to be programmed!"

"I know, I know," the doctor agrees. "I can't say it was the best of ideas. But I was all I could think of at the time."

Ophelia still doesn't look fully pleased by the news, but she nods her head gravely. "All right, I understand why you did it. But tell me, do you really think he'll find the girl?"

"Absolutely." Dr. Elephun points to the screen. "His system won't let him shut down until he does—no matter how low his charge gets. The fact that he's currently located in a residential area and has stopped moving is a good sign that he's found her."

"Or it's a sign that he got hit by a car and he's lying in the middle of the street completely unconscious," Ophelia answers sourly, crossing her arms in frustration.

"No, no, he's definitely inside a house," Dr. Elephun replies, either missing or choosing to ignore her sarcasm as he zooms in further on the map. "Apt 21B, Marvel Ave, to be exact."

"So should we go get him?" Travis pipes up, finally making his way back into the conversation.

"No," Dr. Elephun responds after a moment's thought. "Let's let him rest for tonight. We'll go see how he is tomorrow."

After a tiny bit more arguing, Ophelia and Travis both finally agree to this arrangement and return to their homes after the long and emotionally stressful evening. But Dr. Elephun stays a little bit longer in his office, staring at the red dot on the screen. "My boy, it may seem like your life is over," he says softly, a slight smile on his lips, "but in truth, your future is just beginning."

0o0

*charging complete*

*initiate reboot in 4… 3… 2… 1*

Tadashi awakes to the blinding light of the sun pouring down onto his face. He instinctively pulls his blanket up over his head, trying to protect to eyes and keep from being woken up before he was ready. Whose bright idea was it to leave the window? If this was Hiro's idea of a joke…

Tadashi's eyes snapped open as he catches a whiff of raspberry on the comforter. Wait a minute—this isn't his blanket. Pulling the quilt down, he realizes that he isn't in his room either. Feeling somewhat panicky, he sits up on the couch, he's been passed out for the past who knows how long. Eventually he feels his heartbeat slows as he realizes that he's in Honey's apartment. The periodic table design on the quilt should have immediately tipped him off. It takes him another minute to remember why he's in her apartment, and then he lets out a long groan as the memories of the previous night come back to him. What a mess his life had become in such a short period of time! He tries his best to ignore the fact that he can distinctly feel electricity flowing through three of his limbs—it's still too weird to think about the fact that somehow he's part robot now. It suddenly occurs to him that he hasn't seen Honey yet, and he wonders if she's out. A noise from the next room tells him otherwise, and suddenly feeling the need to see her, he gets up off of the couch and make his way across the small living room to the door of the kitchenette. He stands there for a minute, feeling content just to be watching her. Even though in his mind the Expo had only been one or two nights ago, it feels like it's been a very long time since he's last seen her. Not paying as much attention to what he was doing as he should have been, he leans up against the doorpost and, not compensating for the extra weight of his new limbs, he accidentally stumbles forward with a tiny yelp. The noise is enough to startle Hone Lemon away from whatever she was doing at the stove. She whirls around and stares at Tadashi with wide eyes.

"Hey," he greets her, giving her an embarrassed smile.

He was completely unprepared for her reaction. She let out an ear piercing shriek and lifted up a frying pan from the drainer. "D-don't come any closer!" she cries, waving the pan at him in a threatening manner.

"What on Earth—Honey Lemon, what are you doing?" Tadashi asks, feeling a slight stab of fear. "I-it's me, Tadashi!"

"You're not Tadashi!" Honey Lemon shouts, tears filling her eyes. "The real Tadashi died six months ago in the fire!"

"I-I what?" Tadashi blink his eyes in surprise, trying to make sense of what she's saying. Dead six months ago? How was that even possible? "Wait, wasn't the fire, like, just two nights ago?"

"Hah, that proves that you're a fake!" Honey Lemon tells him with a cold laugh. "If you were Tadashi you'd know that the Expo took place six months ago! Tadashi died going in to save Professor Callaghan!"

Tadashi feels a moment of confusion and then his memory clears. That's right, he had gone in after Professor Callaghan! He didn't know why he'd thought that it had been Honey Lemon in danger. He can still remember the image of Honey falling into the fiery building, but now that he thinks about it, he realizes that it must have been a dream. But now he wonders just how long he'd been stuck in that dream.

"I don't know who or what you are," Honey Lemon continued, looking like she was starting to reach for her purse and, assumedly, her phone to call the police. "But if this is some sick, twisted plot to try to get at me and the others, it isn't going to work!"

"Honey, I swear to you that it really is me!" Tadashi says, risking reaching a hand out towards her to try to stop her from doing something he knew they'd both regret later.

"No, you're not!" Honey has tears rolling down her cheeks now.

"How do you know?" Tadashi asks.

"What?"

"How do you know for sure that I'm not Tadashi?"

Honey Lemon looks honestly startled by the question, and then bites her lip before finally blurting out, "Because you're a robot!"

Tadashi winces slightly at the accusation. Apparently she'd figured out more than he'd realized while he was passed out on the porch the previous night. He can't deny that at least part of him is robotic now, but how does he get her to look that part? Heck, how does he get himself to look past that part? Well, he can figure that part out later—for now he needs to focus on getting Honey to believe.

"Look, Honey Lemon," he says softly. "I don't know exactly what has happened to me. From what you've said, apparently I've been dead to the world for the past six months. But it really is me. Look!" He reaches over to the counter and picks up a knife. Honey instantly cowers back, apparently afraid that he's going to try to use it on her. But instead he just gently nicks his still human arm with it. "See?" He holds the injured flesh out to her so she can see the blood coming to the surface. "Only a human could bleed like that."

Or a partial human, he grimly adds in his mind.

Honey Lemon stares at the wound with a mixture of emotions on her face. Tadashi can tell that he's gaining ground, that she's starting to believe him, so he quickly pushes onwards. "Tell me, honestly, why did you bring me in last night?"

"B-because…Well, you looked and sounded like Tadashi," Honey Lemon responds haltingly. "And I thought that maybe there was some chance that you were still alive, and I just wanted it so badly to be true. But then I felt the metal under you skills and—"

"Forget about that for a second." Tadashi holds her gaze, wishing that he could see the old light in them that he was so used to. "What would it take to prove to you that I'm Tadashi?"

Honey considers this. "Tell me something that only the real Tadashi would know," she finally answers.

"Oh, gosh, where do I start?" Tadashi gives her an amused grin. "We met a Freshman Orientation. You were wearing that adorable flower print skirt that I love, and I got so nervous talking to you that I actually tripped over our orientation leader. You always have a pack of sugar free strawberry cheesecake gum on hand in case GoGo runs out. Your lab project is chemical metal embrittlement, mine is a nursing robot name Baymax. Your favorite scent is raspberry, which is why you always smell like one. Last winter we snuck out with the others in the lab in the middle of the night to take the polar bear challenge in the university pool, but you were too scared to tell us that you couldn't swim so I had to jump in and save you. I hurried you all the way back to the lab wrapped up in my blazer. And while everyone else was out getting you that low fat mocha almond chai tea latte that you love, I stayed with you love and that was—well, that was the first time I ever told you that I loved you."

Honey Lemon's eyes go wide with recognition and she reaches out a wavering hand towards him. "T-Tadashi? Is it really you?"

"It's really me," Tadashi answers, opening his arms to her. A moment later, she's in his embrace, sobbing like a little child. He's careful not to hug her too tightly, still not sure of his own strength, but he leans his cheek down to rest on the top of her head. This…this is what he's been aching for for the last six months while he was out of commission in the hospital. He doesn't know what the future holds for him, but right here, right now, he's home.

"Do you smell something burning?" he asks after a minute, his nose suddenly wrinkling up at the distinct smell of charred food.

"Oh my gosh, the fried rice!" Honey Lemon cries. "I totally forgot about it!" She quickly extricates herself from his grasp and rushes over to the stove where the pan is starting to smoke. The rice, unfortunately, is beyond reconciliation, so she just dumps it into the trash and calls for takeout before motioning for him to follow her out into the living room so they can talk.

"I still can't believe that you're actually here!" Honey says as they settle down onto the couch. Tadashi notices that she's keeping a tight hold on his hand, as if afraid that he's a ghost that will disappear at any second if she lets him go. "Where have you been? What happened to you? Hiro saw you go into the fire and then that big fire ball came out of nowhere and we were sure that you'd died, even though they never found the body—"

"Hey, slow down," Tadashi chuckles, trying to focus more so on the amusing way that she was talking too fast for him to get a word in than the rather unnerving thought of his own almost death, and the thought of how painful it must have been for everyone thinking that he was dead. How had they handled it, especially Hiro? Oh gosh, since he'd actually seen him going in, he must have been absolutely traumatized—

"Sorry," Honey apologizes, breaking into his thoughts. She gives him the embarrassed half-smile that he'd always found so adorable. "I just have so many questions!"

"To be honest, so do I," Tadashi admits with a slight sigh.

"Really? How so?" Honey looks up at him with concern.

"When I said earlier that I thought the fire had been only two night ago, I wasn't kidding," Tadashi answers, feeling a slight twist in his gut that he'd missed out on a full six months of his life, but he quickly pushes past it. "I remember the fire, and going in to save Professor Callaghan, but that's it. The next thing I knew, I was waking up strapped to a table in some lab in San Fransokyo General. I barely managed to escape while the lights were out due to a power outage—I thought for sure that the crazy people there were going to come after me, but fortunately they didn't and so I came here."

"Why here?" Honey asks, her eyes wide with confusion. "Why not home to Hiro and your Aunt? They've probably been missing you even worse than I have!"

"I don't know," Tadashi replies honestly. "I mean, I sort of do—while I was knocked out I had this dream that you were the one who was trapped in a burning building and when I woke up, I thought that you were in danger. But aside from that—I don't know, I just felt that I had to find you."

Honey Lemon nods, blushing slightly, and then her eyes light up. "Oh my gosh, we have to tell everyone that you're okay! They're going to be so excited to see you again!"

Before he even has time to think about it, Tadashi suddenly blurts out, "No!"

"No?" Honey looks up at him with confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean, 'no'? Everyone's been so affected by your loss—I mean, don't you want to see them?"

"I-it's complicated," Tadashi sighed, running his finger through his hair agitatedly. He doesn't know exactly why he feels this way, but something's holding him back from being able to see everyone again, but he tries his best to put it into words. "For one thing, there's still the crazy people from the lab who are probably still looking for me—who knows what they'd do if word got out as to where I was? They'd never leave me alone!"
"But we're your friends," Honey counters gently. "You know that we'd keep your secret, and besides, the more of us who know, the more people who can make sure that you're safe and protected."

Tadashi nods slightly. Her words make sense, but that doesn't mean he's fully convinced. "It's not just that the people from the lab are looking for me, though," he says, his voice barely above a whisper as he finally finds himself forced to come to grips with his new reality. "It's this." He holds out his robotic arm towards her.

"Your… arm?" she says slowly, staring at it blankly. "You don't want to see anyone because of your arm?"

"Not just because of my arm," Tadashi answers, hating the slight anger mixed with fear that he can't keep from leaking into his voice. "It's my arm, and my legs, and Heaven knows what all else! Honey Lemon, I'm part robot now! I may look human on the outside, but I have no clue what all they did to me back there! For all I know, I'm some sort of human guinea pig. I don't even know if I'm still a person or not! How are the others supposed to accept me when I'm not who I was? I mean, just look at how freaked out you were when you first found out!"

"Tadashi…" Honey Lemon looks momentarily guilty and then lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter whether you're all human or part machine—you're still you. The other will still care about you the same way they always have, no matter what."

Tadashi shakes his head obstinately before saying what's truly on his mind. "How can I expect them to accept me…when I can't even accept myself?"

Honey Lemon studies his face, doing her thing where she tries to read what someone's thinking by their facial expression. Finally she answers, "I think that's something that only you are going to be able to deal with. But it's not fair to everyone else to keep this from them when they've been so worried about you."

Tadashi lets out a slow sigh. "Just—just give me some time to think about it, okay?" he finally responds.

Seeing the pained look on his face, Honey Lemon finally nods. "All right," she agrees, reaching up and tucking a lock of hair fondly behind his ear. "I'll keep your secret for now. But promise me that you really will think about it."

"I will," he promises, truly meaning it. For a moment they just sit there, enjoying being in each other's company, Tadashi letting his fingers mingle in Honey's long hair and she gently massaging his prosthetic hand with hers. Tadashi marvels at the fact that he could actually feel her touch on his apparently synthetic skin as well as he could with his natural one. Maybe this new body isn't so different after all—

"Beep-beep-bee-beep!" Honey Lemon and Tadashi are both suddenly startled by the sound of a cellphone going off. Without a word, Honey instantly jumps off of the couch and rushes into the kitchen. She came back a minute later, a pink and orange purse with the periodic table of elements in a heart shape on it thrown over her shoulder and looking like she's preparing to leave.

"Wait where are you going?" Tadashi asks in confusion.

"Uh…there's been a sort of emergency," Honey Lemon answers a little evasively, suddenly sounding guilty.

"Anything I should know about?" Tadashi presses, hoping that none of their friends are in danger. Despite his current aversion to seeing them, that doesn't mean that he doesn't still care deeply about them.

"Oh, n-no," Honey Lemon stammers, forcing a smile onto her face. "Just—just something I need to go take care of real quick. I should be back in less than an hour, okay?"

Tadashi is about to protest, but she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and that's enough to immobilize him until she's already out the door. For a little while he just sits there, feeling restless and seriously wishing that he's gone after her. As he thinks this, the little red dot from the night before appears in his field of vision, but he resists the urge to follow it. Obviously this is something that Honey wants to have some privacy about, otherwise she would have told him about it. For a moment he worries that maybe the "emergency" has something to do with a guy—it she'd moved on in his absence. But no, he tells himself. She's obviously still as much in love with him as he is with her. Still, somehow he can't shake the feeling that something isn't quite right.

Trying to get the troubling thoughts out of his head, she turns on the TV, just for a distraction. Since it's midday, so his only choice is soap operas or the local news. He settles on the news, keeping the volume low so as not to arouse the suspicions of the neighbors. Some story is on about an office building catching fire downtown. Usually he would have paid more attention to it, but a sudden knock on the door distracts him. For a moment he wonders who on Earth would be visiting Honey Lemon's in the middle of the day, and then he remembers that she'd ordered takeout food and realizes that it must have finally arrived. Well, it would be a shame to waste it, especially since she'd already paid for it over the phone and he was half starved at this point. Who knew how long it had been since he'd last had an actual meal? He gets up to answer the door, but when he opens it he is confronted by someone who is most definitely not the delivery person—not unless the delivery person of the restaurant Honey Lemon called wears business attire covered by a long white lab coat.

It takes him a full thirty seconds for his brain to process what he's seeing, and then something like a trigger flips on in his mind and he realizes that this man must be from the hospital. Instantly he starts to slam the door shut, but before it can fully close the man puts his foot in the gap and cries, "Wait!"