**A.N.: There will be a hospital scene in this chapter, but it isn't too graphic.**

The café went silent while Hiro performed his best imitation of a deer in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler on a narrow mountain highway. Didn't Wasabi know that young children heard everything they weren't supposed to? Hiro's eyes darted everywhere but his brother's accusing stare as he tried to come up with the least painful way to put it.

"Umm..."

"You haven't told him?"

Not helping, Gogo.

Tadashi was looking increasingly upset; was it getting hotter, or was it just Hiro? The smallest Hamada brother got down off his chair and walked up to Hiro, reaching up and grabbing onto his sleeve while looking up at him, demanding an explanation.

"Told me what? What's going on Hiro? Where's Aunt Cass? I thought she was on a trip or something. Why isn't she here?" Tears started to brim Tadashi's eyes even as he tried to stay calm; this used to be so much easier, why couldn't he keep it together? Abject fear was building inside Tadashi as he started to consider every worst-case scenario, the roar of flames dancing at the front of his mind.

"Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay." Hiro knelt down and pulled Tadashi into a hug, feeling him tremble slightly. "Aunt Cass is just staying at the hospital until she is ready to come home." He knew it was stretching the truth a bit, but it wasn't a lie, per se. Tadashi pulled back from the embrace, looking more angry than fearful.

"I'm not going to break if you tell me what's going on! Why won't you just tell me?"

Hiro sighed. He hadn't really expected Tadashi to leave it at that, but at least he didn't look like he was about to fall apart anymore. There was a glint in his brother's eyes that told Hiro that he wasn't going to have a choice in what was about to be decided.

"I want to see her. Take me to the hospital she's at."

The group took Wasabi's van to the hospital, since it was the only mode of transportation big enough for Baymax to squeeze into, and there was no way Hiro was going to let the five year old Tadashi ride on Hiro's, previously the former's, bike. The video chat with Honey Lemon had ended with Honey promising to purchase plane tickets and contact her project manager. Fred had gone home, having received a call from his dad, and the team let him go, knowing how rare visits were.

The ride to the hospital was tense; it was completely quiet except when the silence was broken by an expression of exasperation from Gogo towards Wasabi's overly cautious driving.

"We have a child in the backseat, there's nothing wrong with caution. Does he need to be in a booster seat?"

"He'll be fine, Wasabi. At the speed you're going, the roof and seatbelts could be gone and we would still all be perfectly safe."

Tadashi ignored Gogo and Wasabi's banter, opting to look out the rear window. Baymax had lit up a soft orange and was offering his warmth in comfort, but he was too preoccupied to appreciate it. After Tadashi had threatened to walk by himself to each of the surrounding hospitals if Hiro didn't take him, Hiro had finally caved and told him most of the story.

Aunt Cass was in a coma, and though her muscles had atrophied, leaving her looking like a sleeping skeleton, there was still a high chance of recovery if she would just wake up. He had warned that it would likely be a short visit, since there wouldn't be much chance for meaningful interaction. Tadashi didn't care, having heard many theories that a coma patient could hear the voices in the room, and he was determined to at least speak with her.

Wasabi dropped the brothers and Baymax off at the hospital's front door, going with Gogo to find a parking spot in the crowded parking garage. They would hang back in the waiting area until the brothers were finished, due to the hospital's limited visitor policy and the need to give the two some privacy with their aunt.

Walking up to the check-in desk, Hiro was greeted by the receptionist.

"Welcome, Mr. Hamada. What can I do for you today?"

"We're just here to visit our aunt, in room 214." At this point, giving them the room number was redundant; Hiro came around often enough for them to know who he was and who he was visiting on sight.

"Ah, yes. I should have guessed. I'll ring someone to lead you right away." Having pressed the buzzer to summon an attendant, the receptionist turned back to the pair. "Who's this little one? He doesn't normally come with you."

"This is my brother," Hiro paused, uncertain of what to divulge to this stranger when Tadashi's very existence was still being worked out. Tadashi solved his dilemma as he reached up, offering his hand to shake to the receptionist.

"My name's Tadashi." The receptionist shook his hand, before a slightly puzzled look came over his face.

"Now, why does that name seem so familiar?" His train of thought was interrupted as the orderly in charge of 214 arrived to lead them to the room.

"Right this way."

Tadashi paused outside the door, trying to mentally prepare himself for what was inside. He tried to convince himself he was being silly, it was just Aunt Cass. He had been in plenty of hospital rooms while developing Baymax, so it wouldn't be too different from that, right? So why was he so hesitant to enter? Hiro had already entered, and he could faintly hear him telling their aunt that he had brought a visitor. That was his cue; it was time to go in.

Taking a deep, if shaky, breath, Tadashi reached up to the door handle and let himself in with Baymax's semi-comforting presence following after. He kept his gaze on the floor as he made his way over to where Hiro stood next to the bed.

Hiro chuckled, trying to break the atmosphere, "No need to be shy, say hello."

Tadashi wasn't being shy, and he wasn't scared of his aunt, but rather scared for her, as if one less person seeing the state she was in would make her situation less true. He guessed Hiro was just trying to give him an impetus to start talking. He lifted his gaze to the form on the bed, and his voice caught in his throat even though he had prepared for this; he had expected this. It was eerie seeing the way her frail bones rose and fell with each breath, the way she lay so still, her hair fanned out against the pillow as if it hadn't been disturbed since her head had last been lain there.

While the medical side of his mind was taking note of her ability to perform involuntary tasks on her own and the benefit of having a room in which she was next to a window, the more personal side of his mind was struggling to match this Cass with the one that had shown up in his memories. She had always been lively, zipping from table to table at the café, when she was making sure she had everything in stock for the upcoming week's business, or even when she was lecturing or talking about the latest occurrence in the shop, she was prone to gesticulate, her arms doing half of the speaking for her. Tadashi cleared his throat and tried again to address her.

"Hey, Aunt Cass. It's me, Tadashi. I'm back. I know I don't sound the same, but it's me, honest. I found Hiro, and he's taking good care of me, though his wings aren't near as good as yours are..." Tadashi's voice broke on this last word, the tears in his eyes threatening to well over. Hiro noticed an orange sheen cover Tadashi's eyes as he held back the tears, and prompted him to continue speaking. Before he could, however, Baymax interrupted him.

"Hiro, look."

Hiro glanced over to see Baymax pointing at the readout on a particular screen, the one monitoring brain wave activity. The line that had been nothing but a series of shallow waves for the past year had spiked around the time that Tadashi had started speaking to her, but was quickly returning to its previous state.

"Tadashi, keep talking." Hiro kept his eyes glued to the machine while Tadashi began again.

"Um, I got to see the gang again. They were all rather shocked, but took it rather well. We got an impromptu child safety inspection courtesy of Wasabi, which we didn't pass, but it's okay since I'm not actually a child..."

As Tadashi continued to recount the events of his short return, Hiro watched as Cass mentally responded as her brain waves moved from a deep dreamless state to one of mental imagery, and held there. It wasn't consciousness, but it was the longest sustained reaction they had received during the totality of her time in the hospital.

"-Wasabi still drives like a retired police officer, but on the way here he actually ran a yellow light instead of slamming on his brakes." Tadashi paused, having run out of things to say for the time being. "I guess I've taken enough of your time, but I'll be back soon, and I'll keep coming back until you decide to wake up and come home."

Tadashi turned to Hiro, who joined him and said his own goodbyes to their aunt, his eyes still on the monitor as the following silence allowed it to return to the dreamless state. The trio left the room and followed the orderly back to the waiting room where Gogo was popping her gum and Wasabi had taken it upon himself to alphabetize the magazine selection, muttering to himself as he did.

"Home and Gardens is an 'H' and will go right after Health and—Oh! Hey guys, how'd it go?"

On their way out, Hiro explained the phenomenon that had occurred with increasing excitement, reaching for his phone to text Fred and Honey Lemon the news. Scrolling through his messages, he laughed.

"Unbelievable. Looks like Honey Lemon is catching a flight in a couple hours and will be here early tomorrow morning- 1 a.m. early. Looks like somebody missed you, Tadashi."

The entire group was going to be in one town again, granted Fred didn't disappear with his dad like he sometimes did. Wasabi had a project to get back to, but after dropping the brothers, Gogo, and Baymax off at the café, he promised to meet them at the airport around midnight to meet Honey Lemon.

Gogo offered to stick around and hang out, but Hiro declined, thinking of the paperwork he still needed to work through with Tadashi, and made a similar agreement to meet at the airport. Gogo said she would let Fred know about the meeting, and she was out the door with her bike helmet under her arm.

Back upstairs, the Hamada brothers debated the merits of reinstating Tadashi's old identity versus creating a new one. Tadashi was determined to resume his old life with as little change as possible, though he recognized the difficulties with that course of action. He absolutely refused to start over completely, which Hiro had expected from the beginning, even if it made things more difficult.

Making up his mind, Hiro first made a copy of the incomplete forms, in case they needed to change, then filled out one set with Tadashi's original identity. They could deal with the problems as they came, and not stress about them before. Realizing it was going to be a late night if they were going to meet Honey Lemon, the brothers decided to sleep and have a late dinner before heading to the airport.

Despite the long flight, Honey Lemon was practically glowing with excitement as she rushed to the baggage claim, her dark blue carry-on bag slung over one shoulder. Her favorite red and yellow one had pulled a disappearing act when she was packing, but this one served its purpose. The other one would likely show up when the rest of her stuff was shipped to her, and she hadn't wanted to waste time searching.

The flight had arrived earlier than planned, but her friends would be there soon, and she would get to see Tadashi! Five years of believing her dear friend was dead, and his sudden reappearance was almost too good to be true. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes… Preoccupied with her thoughts, Honey Lemon's shoulder collided roughly with someone she tried to pass on her way to get her luggage.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." She had picked up a British accent during her time away, so she realized she probably sounded like a rude tourist, rather than a rushed local. Golden-hazel eyes looked up at her blearily, as if he hadn't even noticed; clearly some people suffered from jet lag more than others.

"Hm? Oh, it's fine."

Honey barely heard him, as she had already continued on her way to the baggage area by the time he'd spoken up. She glanced over the display, discovering that she had gone to the area for connecting flights from London, whereas she had flown straight through and wasn't planning on going any further.

Spinning on her heel, she headed back the other way, only to feel another collision and a sharp sting on her upper arm. In an overwhelming bout of dizziness, in which her arm and, soon after, her neck, numbly locked into place, she felt her bag slide off her shoulder as an arm guided her to a seat, before disappearing.

Blinking as the dizziness faded and she regained sensations in her arm and neck, she looked around to see that both her bag and the person she had run into were gone. She checked for the small, thin bag under her jacket that she kept her passport, cell phone, and cards in and was relieved to find it still present.

Slightly shaken, but not unable to function, Honey Lemon made her way over to the proper baggage claim and reported the robbery before gathering her own luggage and heading towards the meeting gate. Things like this weren't too uncommon, though she personally had never experienced it before; she had been prepared from a young age to keep the truly valuable things close to her person and hidden. Putting it out of her mind as best she could, she smiled at the sight of Wasabi, punctual as always, waiting for her, with Hiro and a little Tadashi making their way towards him from the door.

Squealing slightly, Honey Lemon made a run for them, smothering Tadashi in hug to the amusement of the others.

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" Hiro jokingly chimed in.

Honey Lemon distributed an equally exuberant hug to both Hiro and Wasabi, before turning to give one to Gogo as she walked through the door.

"Hello to you too." Gogo humored her, despite the surprise on her face.

Wasabi took note of the single suitcase. "Travelling light, are we?"

"Well, most of it is going to be shipped to where I'm staying, since there was no feasible way to bring everything I needed with me in one trip. I had another bag, but it got lifted and-"

"Wait, wait. You got stolen from?" Hiro looked like he was ready to lock down and search the entire airport to recover her property. The others had equally worried and determined faces, but she was quick to dissuade them.

"Really, it's fine. I didn't even like the bag and I just had some clothes, a book, and... oh. My camera was in there." She paused for a second to mourn its loss, but quickly returned to her line of reasoning, "Everything can be replaced, and it isn't like I even saw who it was. It's been reported, and that's all there is to be done about it right now."

The others grudgingly accepted this, but Tadashi was still confused.

"How did they even get the bag from you? It's not like you to just leave your stuff somewhere."

When she described the sharp pain, they checked under her sleeve for an injury, and sure enough, there was a small, round bruise, reminiscent of an injection site, with a small amount of blood.

"Ugh, I wish we'd brought along Baymax. I could've had him scan it for traces of anything. By the time we get back, it'll probably be too faint to identify." Hiro frowned at this, knowing that there wasn't anything they could do at the moment. "Looks like we'll just have to keep an eye out for anything."

"What are we keeping an eye out for?" Fred had finally arrived, and after getting his welcome hug, was filled in on what had happened. "Why do I miss the fun stuff?"

The team laughed at him and headed back to their vehicles to meet up at the café for late night hot chocolate. By the time they'd arrived, a quick scan of Honey Lemon revealed nothing foreign in her systems. It was as if it had never happened.

Back-alley litter danced across the concrete in the bitter November air, skirting around two figures, one significantly larger than the other and rifling through a dark bag, tossing most of its contents into the alley floor.

"Now, what have I told you about stealing from the locals, Jadoku? You know that wasn't your job." The obscenely large man smirked, unconcerned with the senselessness of his restrictions. He was allowed to ask whatever he wished of whomever he wished, as his position afforded him the power to do so. "What makes you think you're above my rules?"

The smaller figure hesitated, considering how he should respond.

"I swear it wasn't on purpose... she sure didn't sound like she was from around here, and—" Brushing dark red bangs out of his face was a nervous habit he knew better than to do in front of the larger man, but a habit was just that. He barely suppressed a cringe when he realized that his fear had been noticed with a cruel and annoyingly superior grin from the other man. "She won't do anything about it... she can't. The paralysis kept her from even seeing me, and it's not as if the bag had anything she'll miss."

"And that's supposed to be a good thing?" The larger man held a couple of crumpled twenties and a relatively expensive camera in his hands, all other items tossed in the street like garbage. "I suppose I could make a couple hundred off this camera, with the right person, but you know I expect much more. Especially from someone as supposedly capable as you."

He began to flip through the pictures in the camera, taking sick amusement in the younger man's nervousness as he awaited his fate. He took his time, deleting them one by one. He paused as he came to one in particular, frowning momentarily before chuckling sinisterly.

"Well, would you look at that? See, I never forget a face, especially one who has taken something from me." The picture in question was one in which an older Hiro was looking fondly at a young boy, possibly around kindergarten age, who was smiling up at him. The two were strikingly similar, in a way that only family could be. "Two years is a long time to spend off the streets, and it seems like little 'Zero' has something to compensate me with." Further pictures only solidified the idea in his mind, and the rusted mental cogs began to turn.

He abruptly held out a single twenty to the smaller figure, who startled, but quickly accepted the proffered bill. It wasn't much, but it was better than the alternative.

"I'll let you off with a warning for now. But Jadoku," the larger figure paused, knowing that silence was a worse threat than any he could verbalize. "Be sure to pick your marks better next time."

Golden eyes glinted in the streetlight as they glanced away from the mountain of a man, before they were hidden completely by red hair as the smaller figure, Jadoku, politely bowed, tension echoing across his shoulders.

"Of course, Yama."

**A.N.: Well, would you look at that. This could potentially cause a couple of issues... The next chapter will be much more lighthearted than this, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.""