**A.N.: Well, here it is! The next chapter should be up soonish, but I have a one-shot I promised someone I'd write them, and I'd like to do a bit more with World So Cold (see bottom for more details). Thank you to those who have already reviewed and a special shout out to sayagirl24 for helping with the bike scene so long ago. I said I'd put it in, didn't I? Anyway, enjoy!**

Tadashi saw the ground approaching quickly, and could feel the tips of his wings continuously blowing off as they reformed. Thinking fast, he drew his wings in close to his body, willing them to grow thicker and stronger, and began to feel the lift in his back again. He descent slowed greatly, but he was still falling, and Tadashi feared that stretching out his wings again would only put him back at square one. He braced for impact.

He felt something soft envelope him, and could only tell that he was tumbling by the shifts in balance as what he assumed was Baymax absorbed and dissipated the energy of the fall. When they came to a stop, all the air had been pushed from his lungs, but otherwise, he felt fine. Tadashi distantly heard yelling.

"Tadashi! Tadashi, are you okay?"

Baymax had barely let go of him when Hiro was right there in front of him, looking him over for injuries.

"B-baymax, scan him." Hiro was shaking, fear consuming him as Tadashi attempted to speak or at least convince his lungs that they liked air.

"I-" Tadashi gasped as he tried to get out sound.

"Scan complete. Current air intake is low. No emergency action necessary. Tadashi, please try to breathe with the tempo of the glow."

Tadashi watched as a green light brightened and faded. He had to breathe in for 5 counts, out for 9. When he managed that, the in for 7 out for 12 was suggested, but he'd already regulated his breathing. He also realized that his wings had vanished completely, as he'd inadvertently willed them away when he'd hit Baymax.

"I-I'm fine." Tadashi relaxed when he was pulled into a hug, seeing his friend's concerned faces over Hiro's shoulder. "I guess that's enough for today, huh?" He tried to joke, but it fell flat, only Fred cracking a false smile. "Sorry..."

Hiro had Baymax apply a fresh patch to Tadashi's back, as the rest stood by quietly, clearly shaken. As soon as that was finished, Hiro scooped Tadashi up in his arms, refusing Wasabi's offers to carry him.

"Baymax, carry your own station. We're leaving."

The team passed by where the strange door had been, and Hiro paused, going off the path again.

"Baymax, scan this." He nodded towards the metal door, shifting Tadashi's weight in his arms. "See if there's anything down there."

Baymax stood still for a moment. "Unfortunately, the metal in this structure still interferes with my scanner. No life forms or suspicious signals can be detected."

Hiro sighed, not really expecting a positive answer.

Tadashi looked at him curiously. "He wouldn't be able to see it anyway..."

"I upgraded him. He used to need his helmet for it, but I modified it so his normal scanner would do it too."

"And what else did you change?" Tadashi frowned, even as he mentally acknowledged Hiro had done something amazing again.

It was just... this was his project. What proved he could make something too, even if he had to work so much harder to get even a fraction of the functionality Hiro could dream up in mere hours.

"Various things." Hiro shrugged. "Stuff like this that would be useful in rescue operations to look for survivors."

Tadashi muttered, "He's supposed to work in a hospital..."

Yeah, it was more useful now, and he supposed he'd lost any right to object to modifications five years ago, but still. It was something he had worked hard on and had a specific vision for and Hiro had come in and changed everything and he couldn't really even have the right to be upset because it was better like this.

Hiro made his way back to the path. "And his buddies do. Just Baymax is special, the others only had minor improvements and bug fixes."

"Buddies?" Tadashi looked up, curious.

"Yeah, there're two in the main hospitals around here. One in fact where Aunt Cass is. Want to try and see it while we're there?"

"Yeah..." Tadashi nodded, resting his head against Hiro's shoulder as they continued their way back to the helicopter.

Baymax tucked himself back into his portable form at the last bend in the path, where he was then scooped up by Wasabi and transported with them.

After arriving at Fred's mansion, Tadashi tugged his street clothes back over his flame retardant suit, double-checking that all silver was covered before leaving. The group all piled in the van again to head out to the hospital, still quiet as they processed what almost happened.

Clearing her throat, Gogo spoke up, trying to change the subject that laid heavily on everyone's mind.

"So, Ara, the friend of mine that stopped by the other day," Gogo looked over at Hiro, who was staring out the window aimlessly, "She said she'd be interested in a job at the café."

"Hm." Hiro didn't break his gaze.

Gogo frowned, extending her hand. "Give me your phone. I'll put in her number. Call her later, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever."

When she received it, she inputted the number and looked over at Tadashi. "Remind this airhead in case he forgets, alright?"

Tadashi nodded, watching the hospital building grow larger and larger.

Inside the hospital room, Aunt Cass looked so much better, even from the last time they'd stopped in to see her. She was still gaunt, with pillows holding up her much slighter frame, but there was a healthy glow in her cheeks and she moved much more smoothly than she had.

Hiro ignored the doctor's muttered comment about the strangeness of the situation. Let them think what they will. They'd never guess the truth.

"I'm just so glad I was back in town in time to see you awake." Honey Lemon beamed from where she sat in one of the chairs that had been pulled up near the bedside.

"Yes, I'm glad to see all of your faces again." Aunt Cass smiled, looking over the group. "I'm surprised you didn't swarm the hospital earlier, but I suppose there are rules and such that have to be followed."

Gogo smirked, elbowing Hiro. "I'd have been here sooner, if some genius hadn't forgotten to tell me about it."

"I didn't know either," Fred pitched in, laughing slightly. "It was a nice surprise for sure."

"I said I was busy." Hiro crossed his arms, frowning at them.

"It's alright, Hiro." Aunt Cass patted his hand. "Things turned out fine, there was just a break in communication." She laughed. "It happens more often than you'd think."

Hiro nodded, tuning out the conversation as Wasabi chatted about the goings-on in the café in her absence, and Honey Lemon showed her pictures and videos from the morning, leaving out the fact that Tadashi had fallen from the sky in the aftermath. It wasn't until Fred complained about being hungry that the group realized that it was already afternoon and they hadn't eaten yet. The group headed towards the door to go to the cafeteria when Aunt Cass called out to Hiro, asking him to stay.

"Yeah, what is it?" Hiro asked brusquely as he retook his seat, watching the door close behind the others.

"Well first off, you can drop the attitude, Hiro." She did not say this harshly, but if Hiro was going to keep up the distant anger, this conversation was not going to accomplish what she needed it to.

Hiro sighed and straightened a bit in his seat. "I'm sorry, Aunt Cass."

"Of course you're forgiven, Hiro. Now what's gotten you all upset?" She reached over and smoothed out Hiro's brow, running a hand through his hair before returning it to the bed, the movement having tired her.

"It's just-" Hiro crossed his arms, leaning back. "Everything's been annoying me lately, and I've been feeling anxious about... well everything, with and without any real reason."

He sighed, shrugging and rubbing at his temple as the tightness in his throat grew to an itch again. "I'm probably just tired, what with all of this happening at once. I've been trying to keep a lid on it and act normally, and mostly it's been okay, but..." Hiro trailed off, wondering what he should tell her about what happened on the island.

"But what, Hiro?" She prompted gently.

Out with it, then.

"Dashi fell e-earlier. I-I mean he's fine now, but i-it was a close thing." Hiro tightened his arms around himself as his aunt looked surprised and then worried and then sympathetic.

"I-I can't- I'm not going to lose him again. Not when I can actually do something about it." Hiro's voice became stronger in the end, something in his eyes hardening. "Even if it means he doesn't fly again."

Aunt Cass took one of his hands in hers, running her thumb over the back of it. "I understand where you're coming from, but you just can't box him in like that." She chuckled.

"I remember when you both were so young, you'd create the craziest things. It was all fine and good, unless your creation decided to do as it pleased. After a particularly close call or ten, I just wanted to trap you both in separate padded rooms and never let you touch another robot ever again." She shook her head. "But that would have crushed your potential. You boys have done so much with your robots, and I am very proud of you."

Hiro looked up at her, grinning slightly as she continued.

"Clearly it's a bit different, but he'll never grow into his ability if you shield him from everything. And he certainly wouldn't thank you for it."

Hiro sighed, picking at his jacket sleeve. "He wouldn't be able to thank me otherwise."

"Now, Hiro... I'm not asking you to throw caution to the wind. Baby steps, with correct safety measures, until he is comfortable with his abilities... That is what I'm asking you to consider, okay?"

Hiro nodded, hearing the door to the room open and the others file in.

"The cafeteria was pretty much empty this time of day. I hope you like turkey sandwiches, Hiro." Fred passed him one of the plastic wrapped meals and a soda.

Tadashi settled in his seat, munching on his own sandwich. "So, what're you guys talking about?"

Aunt Cass smiled. "Just what we're going to do for Thanksgiving. They don't want to let me out of here so soon, so I was thinking we could do something up here. I wouldn't be able to do much on the side of cooking, but," She shrugged, "It should be fun anyway."

Hiro nodded. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

The others agreed, beginning to divvy up the various responsibilities. Hiro tuned them out, mulling over his aunt's words.

Sure. Baby steps.

He glanced over at Tadashi. That reminded him...

"You wanted to try and see the bot that worked here, right?"

Tadashi nodded eagerly, following him out the door.

After asking around a bit, Hiro found that the robot was currently not on duty, and was informed of where it could be found.

"Here it is." Hiro gestured at the inflated robot as it stood in it's charging station.

"Looks just the same." Tadashi looked over it, poking it lightly.

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. No point in changing the ultimate design. It's currently in the testing phase, though. We need to see how well it works in the actual hospital environment. So far no issues."

Tadashi nodded, satisfied.

On the way out of the hospital, Gogo reminded the group that they still needed to have Tadashi try out his new bike, or at least transfer ownership as it was currently taking up her much needed space. They all agreed and headed over to the park while Gogo and Wasabi left to pick up the bike.

Once they arrived at the park, Fred ran over to the swings, Honey Lemon close behind as she snapped pictures. Tadashi and Hiro sat off to the side, Tadashi a little unnerved by Hiro's silence.

After a moment or two, Tadashi wandered further into the playground, realizing that he was now the right size to actually do things on it again. He went over to the monkey bars, finding it much easier than he'd remembered them being. Whenever he looked over, Hiro had his eyes trained on him, as if daring him to do anything remotely dangerous.

Like riding a bike wouldn't be.

"Hey." A girl a little shorter than Tadashi smiled up at him as she approached.

"Hi." Tadashi smiled back as he dropped down, uncertain of what to say.

The little girl had on a white shirt covered in cartoon ladybugs, matching her necklace, bracelets and even her shoes.

She must really like ladybugs.

"You're really good at that." She pointed up at the monkey bars before holding her hands behind her back.

"Oh." Tadashi looked up at them, wondering if they'd always been set so high. "Thanks."

"I like your wings." She smiled again, pointing behind him.

"Huh?" Tadashi looked back in alarm, before seeing the small fabric bumblebee wings on his jacket. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks."

The ladybug girl giggled before running off. "Race ya!"

"Wait, where?" But she'd already gone quite a distance, so Tadashi just did his best to catch up.

She stopped by a tree, laughing as she put her palm against the bark. "It's a tie!"

Tadashi looked at her blankly. "But you got there first."

She shrugged. "It's what my big sis always says."

"Hey, Teddy!" Gogo's voice startled him, as he turned to see her pushing along a small bike, closely followed by Wasabi, who was carrying an assortment of protective gear. The bike gleamed green in the light, and you could see the difference in the wheels from normal bikes even from the distance they were at.

"Is that your sister?" Ladybug watched them approach, sitting down in the grass.

Tadashi shook his head. "No, but that," he pointed over at Hiro, completely unsurprised to see him watching over Honey Lemon's shoulder as she filmed the entire thing, "Is my brother."

"Ohhhh." She nodded, chewing on her bracelet. "Is that your bike?"

"Mhmm." Tadashi made his way over to the path as Wasabi began to set down the equipment. The others began to head over as well and the girl got up and ran off somewhere.

"Okay, little man." Wasabi began to sort it out, putting them in groups of two. "This is all of the stuff I could find that would fit you."
"Why not just stick him in a suit of armor?" Gogo joked as she leaned the bike against a bench.

Tadashi frowned, crossing his arms before sitting down, trying to make sense of the piles of plastic and fabric and where they were supposed to go.

If he couldn't even ride a bike...

Honey Lemon was the first to reach them with her camera, and bent down next to Tadashi to nudge his shoulder when she saw his expression. "What's wrong, Teddy?"

"I have fallen every time I've done something like this lately." He looked up at her. "I'm a little tired of it. Can't we do this another time?"

Hiro approached, ruffling Tadashi's hair once he was in range. "We can if you really want to, but if you end your day with defeat, it'll be harder to start again."

Tadashi frowned. Hearing his own advice from his brother was as irritating as it was helpful, but he finally sighed, beginning to slip on each piece. "If this is anything like the last time I got on wheels..."

"But now you know you can do something about it." Fred pointed out, grinning as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

"It'll still hurt to fall." Tadashi pouted, adjusting the wrist protectors. Wasabi really had thought of everything.

Hiro nodded, pulling at his sleeve before picking up the helmet and adjusting it on Tadashi's head. "You'll be okay."

"Yeah, no more first step downhill riding." Gogo crossed her hand over her heart. "Promise."

Tadashi shrugged, looking over and seeing the ladybug girl returning with her own bright red bike.

"See, now you have a friend." Hiro laughed, nudging Tadashi.

Tadashi climbed onto his own bike, unsteady on the pedals but distantly remembering that it was easier to keep your balance the faster you went. Honey Lemon stepped back, turning the camera so she could see all of the path in the view. Hiro took hold of one side of the handle bars and Wasabi took the other, steadying the bike until Tadashi had picked up a little speed, quickly getting used to the feel of being on a bike again.

Wasabi let go first, letting Hiro follow along with the bike a little further. Hiro secretly released the bike, just running alongside it as they came back around the loop of the park. Tadashi laughed when he realized he'd managed to at least do this right, without too much assistance, and pulled on the brakes Gogo had actually remembered to include as they approached the group.

"Yeah!" Fred cheered upon their return. "Guess we didn't need all that padding."

"Better safe than sorry." Wasabi shrugged.

"Well it definitely went a lot better than the rollerblades." Gogo snickered, helping Tadashi remove some of the bulkier and more restrictive gear before patting his back.

"Yeah... rollerblades are still a no for right now, but this," Tadashi nodded at the bike, "This is great. Thank you, Gogo."

"No prob, Teddy." She tapped twice on his helmet and backed off so that he could take another lap around the park, Ladybug joining in this time.

"You're good at this, too." The little girl spoke up from beside Tadashi, swinging side to side on the bike, making Tadashi nervous. "What d'you mean about your rollerbades?" Her pronunciation was a little off, and Tadashi had to wonder how well he actually passed for a five year old.

"Um, I tried them, but it didn't end well at all..."

She nodded understandingly, weaving a bit as she took her eyes off of the path. "I still can't either. My big sis tries to help me, but she's at class now. I'm here with my friend and her mom, but she likes to do the swings and those are scary. You go way up high and I don't like that, and..."

Tadashi listened as she rambled on for a few more laps of the park, the group of his friends having settled down and started chatting amongst themselves. He looked over in shock when Ladybug squealed, jumping off her bike without even stopping. He avoided it when it fell hard to the ground, putting his foot down and looking over to see what was going on.

Ladybug had run to an older looking girl and had jumped into her arms, as what seemed to be her big sister picked her up, hugging her close. Tadashi put down the kickstand and picked her bike back up for her as she and her sister walked over.

"Thank you!" Ladybug hugged Tadashi before taking her bike and waving goodbye with a huge grin on her face.

Once they had gone, Tadashi returned to the group, just in time to see Fred scratch at his face and wince.

"Aww man!" Fred frowned, shaking his head with his hand against his forehead. "I forgot sunscreen!"

"Freddie, you could have asked. I had some right here." Honey Lemon dug through her bag, holding out a tube of it.

"Too late now..."

Tadashi saw that Fred's entire face was a bit red, as well as the exposed parts of his arms and neck. He winced in sympathy. "Maybe it won't be so bad..."

Fred folded his arms, thinking, before grinning widely. "Hey, Teddy, can I use your tears?"

He'd barely gotten the question out when Gogo hit him upside the back of his head.

"Hey!"

"You earned that, as well as your sunburn. Maybe it will teach to not forget again."

"Meanie." Fred rubbed the back of his head.

"Never claimed to be nice." Gogo stood and stretched, looking over at the sun that was close to setting. "I think it's time to head out."

"Right." Wasabi stood as well, wavering a bit at the head rush from standing too quickly. "Who all wants a ride back?"

Hiro shook his head. "The café's just around the corner, and we wouldn't all fit with Tadashi's bike. We'll just walk back. Be sure to send me those pictures." He said to Honey Lemon as he and Tadashi walked off.

"Don't forget to call Ara!" Gogo called to him.

"I won't!"

Hiro helped Tadashi carry his helmet, since he was too tall to comfortable push the bike. He was almost as tall as Tadashi had been, which was amusing to think about. Now if only he could get the big brother part down. Hiro frowned, spinning the helmet in his hands as they crossed the street to the café.

Once they were inside, Hiro sent Tadashi upstairs and called Ara, who was happy to come in the next day. Hiro sighed, straightening and beginning to prepare the café for opening again as he let his mind wander in the silence.

What if Baymax hadn't caught him, or hadn't been enough?

What kind of brother let's someone fly without so much as a helmet?

You could have lost him, and it would have been your fault.

Hiro shuddered at the mental image of this younger Tadashi lying broken on the ground, feeling something angry burn tightly in his chest.

No.

Tadashi wouldn't come to any harm, he'd be sure of it. Hiro's hands were shaking as he pulled one of the wooden chairs off of the table from where it had rested upside down. He startled when it slipped out of his grip, gasping harshly and feeling the air catch strangely in his throat.

He released the breath, feeling something warm coat the inside of his mouth before he jerked backwards as flames appeared in front of him.

Hiro stared in shock at the scorch mark on one of the chairs that still rested on the table, having been merely grazed by the... fire.

He had just breathed fire... there was unavoidable proof right in front of him. His mind raced even as it insisted that it made some sort of sense, from how Aunt Cass had explained Tadashi.

...Could Tadashi breathe fire, too?

Hiro stood for a few more seconds, staring at the chair before pulling out his phone, belatedly realizing the rough itch in his throat had vanished. He selected a number and waited a few rings as the call went through.

"Hey, Fred."

...

"Nah, Everything's fine."

...

"Yeah, just a quick question. What have you got on fire breathing?"

Meanwhile, another phone call was going on as Himitsu leaned against the wall of the safe house.

"That close, huh?"

Himitsu spoke into the phone as he considered the fact that the group knew where the island was. The voice on the other side of the was inaudible.

"...Yeah, yeah, I get it's kinda serious. I-"

...

"We j'st won't hold 'im fer as long. Pass 'im over ta Yama sooner, no big."

...

"Yeah, I know... Speakin' a Jadoku... we're gonna have ta be more 'onest with 'im."

...

"But yer askin' fer loyalty with nothin' ta base on."

...

"Wakatteru."

...

"That's my choice, isn't it?"

...

"I know what I'm doing."

...

"Bye, Taishou-sama." Himitsu rolled his eyes, knowing he couldn't be seen and hung up.

**A.N. Okay, so maybe one day isn't quite enough to pull together a chapter. Oh well. Some important information:

Wakatteru: I know (usually meant along the lines of "I know, I know, quit nagging")

I've been working on a side story called "World So Cold" on this site that isn't strictly cannon for this storyline, but it's in the same verse and revolves around Kyouji. Hiro and Tadashi play a part in it as well, but the timeline is different. It might help you get into Kyouji's head a little better if you want to go check it out. Chapter 3 for that one is my next project.

I recently realized I never specified ages... oops. It'd be a pain to work it into the story, so:

Everyone on the nerd crew is just five years older than they were in the movie, whatever you picture that to be.

Kyouji/Jadoku: Just turned 22 (happy birthday to him)

Himitsu: 24; Ara: 21; Shoki: 27; Bella: 23; Taishou: 41

(4)**