**A.N.: Lesson learned: never give me time to nit-pick. I want to thank those that reviewed, particularly guest reviews that I cannot respond to personally, I appreciate your kind words! I'll save the rest of my babble for the end. Enjoy!**

It was dark, but it was warm.

The ice water had long since receded, flushed out of his veins with each heartbeat.

Coarse material pressed against his arms and brushed against his chin.

He couldn't move.

Sounds, and voices that shouldn't be, passed through his mind, dancing beyond understanding.

Why was there screaming?

He couldn't move— He couldn't help— He couldn't make it stop…

It was warm, but it was still so dark.

The wind whipped past audibly as Hiro pushed the limits of just how fast his suit could go. He ignored the whine of strain as he flew above buildings, taking a straight shot to the coordinates Baymax had provided. If he was just seconds too slow, Tadashi could die again, and this time…

This time it would be on him.

He shouldn't have slept.

How long had Tadashi been somewhere he could have been found while Hiro wasted time sleeping when he could have, should have been out looking for him? It was unacceptable.

Now Baymax was too far away to help, and to wait for him, or for any of the others, would take time Hiro wasn't even sure he had left. Besides, the robot would only get in the way. He was still programmed to aid people first and foremost, and when Hiro got his hands on whoever took his brother—

Hiro gritted his teeth, nearly overshooting the target location while lost in his thoughts. The sudden and harsh landing sent pain shooting up his legs, fueling the anger boiling in his blood and chest.

He was going to make them bleed.

This was where Baymax had tracked Tadashi to. Residing in the trash heap of the city, this… Hiro hesitated to call this a house, would be better off razed to the ground. Surely no one could live in the decrepit looking place. Clenching his fists, Hiro tried to keep a level head and thus the element of surprise, but when he tried the door, it stuck, warped in its frame.

That. Was… It.

Pouring out his anger, Hiro lashed out, striking the door with his gauntleted fist, and heard it ram against the wall when it broke free. There was no point in being quiet, not now. Not when—

Oh my god…

The room smelled like death.

An acrid stench like wet metal permeated the room, underlaid with other… unpleasant odors. Hiro stood in shock, the scene before him driving spikes of fear into his gut.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the two figures on the ground, where there was so much red that he couldn't tell skin from blood.

Who— what could do that? Why?

But they weren't all that was in the room. Next to them was a couch, a low, ratty thing that was long overdue for a trip to the dump. On the couch was a small figure, lying dead still. There had been no reaction to the bang of the door.

Even Tadashi didn't sleep that deeply.

No.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Hiro nearly stepped forward when movement caught the corner of his eye. Continuing to turn his head in a half-daze, when his eyes landed on the source, Hiro felt his blood run cold.

He knew him.

He knew the man that stood there, covered in blood, with a gun aimed at another cowering person who looked ready to bolt.

Kyouji?

Hiro's mind rapidly started to click things into place, but he was already moving, fueled by rage that overwhelmed all rational thought. A wordless yell ripped from his throat, yet it still couldn't encompass the absolute anger that consumed him, the bitter bite of a betrayal that he'd been stupid enough to fall for a second time. It was Callaghan all over again, but this time, no one would try and stop him. No one.

He was going to tear. Him. Apart.

Caught off guard, Kyouji went down surprisingly easily, and Hiro wasn't about to give him time to recover.

Liar.

Hiro knew the damage his heavy gauntlets could do, and didn't hesitate to put them to good use, throwing every ounce of his anger into a right hook.

Traitor.

His visor darkened with something like smoke, but he could still feel that his second hit made contact, and so he pulled back to strike as hard as he could.

Thief.

Hiro was going to crush his skull.

Murderer.

He never saw the gun.

The sound of the shot rung in his ears, and after a panicked second of waiting for the pain to set in, Hiro spotted the cracks across his visor through the smoke.

Kyouji had shot him in the head.

If Hiro had cut any corners when designing his helmet… he would have died. As it was, he'd just lost his screen link to Baymax, and if the helmet was left on, he'd be fighting blind.

Fine.

Hiro reached up to remove the helmet, a small part of his mind announcing that with it gone, he could use his fire. And who better to use it on than this bastard? He deserved it. He deserved worse.

Blinking away the film that was left on his eyes from the smoke, Hiro glared down at Kyouji, confusion coloring the anger and disgust that welled in him.

What the hell?

The dark coloration that spread from where he'd struck him was not bruising, at least not that Hiro could tell. It was raised, and thickening with each split second Hiro stared, and it looked like… scales. Dark green scales pushing their way out of his skin, row after row, formed a solid coating across his cheek and up over his eye, spreading toward his hairline.

It was one of the freakiest, most bizarre things Hiro hadn't expected to see, and he'd been through quite a bit during the last few weeks.

"What the hell?" Hiro could only echo his own thoughts as his brow scrunched up, his mind racing. This… what if— no. His thoughts returned to the people lying dead behind him. He was nothing like them… nothing like what Tadashi had been.

Hiro's jaw clenched. Kyouji made no move to attack him, and Hiro knew he had the upper hand. He had time. Why not draw this out? Just ending it here would be almost too kind. First he needed to know…

"What did you do to my brother?" Hiro snarled.

He would hear it from his mouth. Each transgression would be paid in full before Hiro took his final revenge. It was only fair, after all, and he would be sure to remember every detail. It wouldn't take much to get the full story, Hiro reasoned. Villains sure liked to talk.

But Kyouji, (Hiro had a moment's thought that that might not even be his name), didn't respond at all. The blank stare unsettled him, perhaps more than the carnage he'd walked into the room to see. That could have a cause, as sick as it might be. This? It was as if there were no one in there, like a puppet with its strings cut. Kyouji just… lay there, staring, silent.

"Hey!" Hiro needed to know, now. How else would he ever find out what had happened? "You owe me! You hear? After everything—you just… I deserve an explanation!"

Hiro struck the ground next to Jadoku's head, desperate to get a reaction, anything. "Answer me!"

Kyouji didn't so much as flinch.

At a loss, Hiro stood, kicking his helmet hard enough to bounce off the opposite wall. If he couldn't get Kyouji to tell him… He glanced over him, trying to think through the rage that still pulled at his mind. Hadn't there been another person here? He was long gone now, but maybe…

If he hadn't turned to locate his helmet, he would have missed it. Someone was headed towards where Tadashi lay, and Hiro could see others through the open door.

They dared—

Hiro launched himself across the room, using his jets inside, uncaring of possible damage to the structure of the building. No one was ever going to touch him again.

The man's shout ushered in the others, but was quickly cut off when Hiro collided with him, bowling him over. Hiro scrambled to his feet, stomping on the man's arm when he reached for a weapon, satisfied to hear a crack under his boot, accompanied by a scream of pain. That was all the time he had before the others were upon him.

They tried to rush him, used to fighting on their own, clearly. The ones that didn't get in each other's way could only aim for his head, Hiro's armor making all other attacks useless.

If they were smart, they'd shoot me.

Hiro lost track of time, the propulsion in his suit used as a weapon just as often as the heavy gauntlets. But he was running out of steam. There were fewer in the group than when he'd started, but it had become a game of dodging, and Hiro didn't get the chance to finish any of them off. He considered grabbing Tadashi's body from the couch and running.

Color danced into the fight, downing one of his attackers. Hiro grimaced at the sight. That guy was not getting up from that one.

A small lull in the fighting quieted things for a moment. The others stared at the woman in shock as she tapped her… umbrella against the ground. Hiro didn't understand… did they know her? One man stepped forward, waving her off dismissively.

"Mr. Yama wants his property! Any who stand in our way—urk…" There was a flash of red and he crumpled, grasping at the gaping wound across his chest. The woman in front of him smiled, even as Hiro's mind reeled.

Mr. Yama was involved in all of this? Wasn't he in jail or something?

"New rules~" The woman's sing-song voice held an edge of steel as sharp as the blade she wielded. "One of your people challenged me. So~, you beat me, you get the kid. But…" She lodged her blade in the leg of one of her opponents, avoiding an immediately lethal blow to prolong his suffering and leaning on it with a grin, slowly pushing it through his flesh. "I think we all know that's not gonna happen."

She turned, arrogantly showing her back to a number of the others to look Hiro in the eyes with a predatory gaze and a smirk that stretched widely across her face. "That includes you, mister Hiro."

Her laughter sent unpleasant chills down Hiro's spine, his instincts telling him not to engage. But he couldn't just run. These people were talking and acting like Tadashi's body meant something to them. That meant he definitely couldn't let them have it. Not for a second.

Where was Baymax?

Hiro couldn't remember if he'd told him not to come, but since when had the robot listened to him? He couldn't have been that far away; it felt like Hiro had been fighting for an eternity. Hiro quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to be very helpful in this space anyway, but watching the way the colorful woman mowed down the other fighters like this was some sort of game… he needed backup.

And then another woman joined the fray.

It was warmer.

He could twitch his fingers… he thinks.

The darkness hadn't changed, but the sounds were more distinct.

The impossible voice went on for a while, raised in a way he didn't expect.

People were fighting. (People were dying).

A name broke through the chaos.

Hiro? He was really there?

Light edged along his vision.

She was playing with them. Hiro noted, in between dodging attacks and attempting to regain his breath, that after the initial kills, the woman with the bladed umbrella wasn't going for lethal blows. She taunted them, waving victory just out of their reach. The other woman struck when the first was in danger, but only then. This wasn't a fight, it was entertainment.

Hiro kicked out at the injury of one of the people still intent on taking him down, sending them to the ground. His armor weighed down on him, but surprisingly, he hadn't broken a sweat. Not because he wasn't tired, he could feel that deep set in his bones already, but he didn't feel heated. It was almost… cold.

Freezing for a moment, Hiro could have hit himself in the face for being so stupid as to forget one of his most important assets in the confusion of the fight. It was child's play to draw on the anger and frustration (and hurt) bubbling at the edge of his conscious, feeling the first burst of warmth take root in his core. He didn't bother aiming, knowing flames would clear the path and keep people away long enough for him to think.

Hiro let out a strong breath, feeling a small click at the back of his throat. Fire streamed from his mouth, catching remaining patches of carpet and spreading. At the sight, a few of the remaining people backed away, heading for the door because this was too much, they'd take their chances with an angry Mr. Yama over a fire breather.

The women's eyes widened, the first one jolting backwards from having stood too close to the initial blast. Too bad there wasn't any lasting damage, but the edge of her sleeve was blackened.

Good. Hiro thought. I have something they weren't expecting.

Going to activate the pack on his back, Hiro lost balance when it failed to act as he expected.

What?

There was no response, and without his helmet, he had no way to check why it suddenly decided not to start up. He didn't recall turning it off, in fact.

The two women looked at each other with knowing smirks, skirting the fire, moving to flank him from either side. Hiro prepared another blast of fire, remembering how he'd run out at Fred's and hoping he didn't anytime soon. It wasn't looking like he would be able to fly his way out of this one.

Suddenly, a flare of heat surged beside him, almost unbearably so. Hiro held up a hand to shield his face as the blaze spread, and it took a moment for his eyes to shift so he could look at it.

The couch was on fire.

The crackling sound grew louder as the fire jumped up along the ceiling, which Hiro didn't trust to stay up for too much longer now. But why—

"-ro? Hiro!"

The noise was almost deafening, but he would recognize that voice anywhere. Looking back down at the couch, he spotted movement among the flames… no, the flames were moving, not just spreading, but arching out…

Arching out into two wings.

"Tadashi?" Hiro called out, trying to be heard among the flames that clung to every surface, eating through any fuel source they could find.

He couldn't get much closer, the heat too much even for him, but he could nearly make out the form of his brother, sitting up on the remains of the couch. Tadashi wasn't just sitting in the fire. Tadashi was the fire. It was like some twisted nightmare from years ago, but at least he didn't seem to be in pain.

"Hiro… where am I?" Tadashi shook, his voice dazed, and the flames surged. "Why is it so cold?"

"I don't—" Hiro's voice trembled, threatening to break. He was alive. There was more fire involved than Hiro had thought there would be, but Tadashi was alive. Right?

He couldn't check if this fire was all that was left of him, if there was anything human underneath. Hiro had no link to Baymax, who still wasn't there, and he couldn't just see for himself. The blazing skin and bright white fire where his eyes belonged frightened Hiro. If the fire ever went out, would there be anything left?

Tadashi stood, shakily balancing with his wings outstretched. "Hiro?"

Hiro hated that he had to flinch and back away when Tadashi approached, the temperature too high even for his changed state. Tadashi hesitated, his expression difficult to read if not for the wings drooping behind him speaking volumes. He looked around, as if seeing the fire for the first time.

"…I did this?"

"I helped," Hiro joked, the words slipping out.

Tadashi tilted his head in confusion, reminding Hiro that he didn't know about the fire breathing. It was so difficult to keep straight who knew what, and the potential of the roof caving in didn't help his concentration. The smell of burning flesh also proved to be a huge distractor. He needed to get out of there. Before he could suggest they try to move outside, Hiro noticed Tadashi's attention turn to something on the ground. Something that used to be someone.

"…hiro?" The fear in his voice, that he'd killed someone with this, tore at Hiro's chest.

"Th-they were dead when I got here." If that didn't sound like the age-old excuse, Hiro didn't know what would, but he was being truthful if Tadashi was looking at one of the two… There was no way to tell now. "Please, Dashi, let's leave."

He didn't look at Hiro though, his gaze moving around the room. He was counting, Hiro realized with a sinking heart. He could see one of Tadashi's fingers twitch each time he spotted a body, a 'tell' from when they were younger that he was trying to keep track of something.

After a second look over the room, Tadashi turned to Hiro. "I didn't mean— I…"

He couldn't finish his sentence, and Hiro moved closer to him, as close as he could before it became too painful. He still had to stand a good distance away, and it was killing him. His brother was still alive but he couldn't reach him.

"It's not your fault," Hiro said, wanting his words to get through his brother's thick skull. His eyes shot towards the ceiling at the ominous crack. "We have to get out of here—Tadashi, can you… can you remember how to put away your wings?"

Hiro couldn't ask him to try and put his fire out, since that could very well be the end of him, but perhaps if his wings were gone, he could approach him. It might also stop feeding the fire that ate through the wood above them, destroying the already meager support of the building and threatening to bring it down on top of them. Why did there have to be a second floor?

"I… I don't think—"

The hesitation was enough to spur Hiro into action. They didn't have time. "Tadashi, listen to me. Run for the door over there. I'll follow after!"

He didn't know if Tadashi could fit through the frame with his wings. He didn't know if his leaving might destroy the doorway. He didn't know for sure if there was another way out.

But Tadashi was going to make it out of here alive, and letting a building fall on top of him probably wouldn't help.

Tadashi, glancing up at the awful groaning noise, realized what his fire was doing to the structure. If he moved, the fire would too, and might speed the collapse along. Hiro might not make it out, then. "But—"

"Go!" Despite the fire that swathed it, Hiro knew Tadashi's face well enough to read it, and he swore if he tried to be noble here, he was going to strangle him himself. "I can't pass you!"

Tadashi was between him and the only exit Hiro could see, which wouldn't be bad at all if he would just move. Something must have clicked in Tadashi's mind at those words, because he turned and ran, glancing behind to make sure Hiro was following.

The relief from the blistering heat, the likes of which Hiro hadn't felt in a very long time—another burning building jumped to the front of his mind, the force of the past explosion echoing like a phantom across his skin—had Hiro pausing subconsciously, knowing that moving would put him closer to the blaze again. The small fires around him were nothing, the sensation almost cooling.

Snapping out of his daze, Hiro moved quickly towards the exit again, the edges of the door frame glowing hot where Tadashi had squeezed his way through.

Good. He made it out.

Tadashi quickly backed away from the building, hoping to diminish the fire that affected it and let Hiro move without having to worry about being burned. He kept his eyes on his brother, frantically urging him to hurry up. The only thing stopping him from running back in and dragging him out himself was Hiro's inability to handle the temperatures he was currently sustaining.

If only he could… But even as Tadashi tried, it was pointless. He simply couldn't make the wings disappear as he had before, and he didn't even know where to begin with what was happening to his skin.

What was happening?

All of this had onset so suddenly. He'd finally woken up, but to chaos, and orienting himself was one of his least important priorities at the moment. He could see his brother in the doorway, nearly letting out a breath of relief, when the house sagged, and for an instant looked like it would hold. With a horrible crack, the building collapsed, sending out a wave of force that had Tadashi airborne.

Hanging in the air, suspended where his wings kept him aloft, Tadashi stared on in horror, the breath stolen from his lungs.

Wait.

That wasn't supposed to—

He should have had time.

Distantly, Tadashi felt his feet reconnect with the ground, his legs folding under him as they refused to support his weight. He remained frozen in place, staring ahead.

This was his fault.

The fire had been his. If he'd just responded faster, moved faster, if he wasn't this, Hiro would be—Hiro wouldn't be—

Tadashi couldn't breathe. He gasped for air, spots dancing along his vision, but it wasn't helping. None of this was real. It couldn't be. He stood, stumbling towards the collapsed building on unsteady legs. The closer he got, the burning glow at the edge of the building shone brighter, and Tadashi quickly scampered back. If there was a chance, he couldn't speed things along.

He needed help, but no one called things in on this side of town. Most people were probably sleeping, and while he was like this, he couldn't just walk up and ask… they'd probably melt. A nervous laugh broke through his lips, his brain unable to process the emotion.

An engine's whir rudely interrupted his thoughts, a sound that he would normally associate with a jet or some form of aircraft. A large, armored being landed beside Tadashi, heading towards the rubble and spraying down the flames with a fire extinguisher built into its arm.

"Please stay a safe distance away from the building while evacuation is in progress," it commanded.

Tadashi stared, dumbstruck. He knew that mechanical voice. Was this what Hiro had meant by armor? He looked completely different, but Tadashi couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at Hiro for messing with his project. Not this time.

"Baymax! Where were you?" Tadashi could feel jagged sobs threatening to overtake him even as Baymax lifted rubble off of Hiro, tossing it back towards the fire and picking him up. "You could've—"

"I still detect signs of life," Baymax interrupted, the declaration allowing a spark of hope to rekindle. "But Hiro is in critical condition, and immediate medical care is required."

Tadashi nodded hurriedly, wondering if they had time to take Hiro's armor off before sending him to the hospital, if only to avoid questions that would delay treatment. No, probably not, and Tadashi knew he couldn't go with them. If only he could—

No. He could do something. Something that even taking him to the hospital immediately wouldn't accomplish.

"Wait, Baymax!"

But even as Tadashi remembered the power of his tears, he realized they were evaporating as he currently was, and to so much as get any closer to Hiro would cause more damage.

It wasn't an option now. He had to power down from this. …but how?

The sensation of the flames at his back wasn't a physical one, not like tensing a muscle, and no amount of thinking was working. Tucking his wings the last time had been accidental, and their disappearance had been aided by the speed of his fall. In the room, he'd just wished them away, but that wasn't doing anything here.

There had to be a way to turn this off… quickly.

Back on the island, when he'd been falling, he'd willed his wings to grow stronger, as if on instinct. Maybe he could do the reverse, but for… everything. But how could one imagine something's absence… unless he could make himself believe that it should be put out. That something could cause it.

"Baymax, the fire extinguisher you used on the building, can you hit me with it?"

"That is unsafe. The chemicals that suppress the air could do damage to—"

"I don't care, I won't breathe it in, just… just aim for my back then. I have to put it out so I can help him."

"I will not endanger a human being," Baymax said, blinking.

"You're endangering him." Tadashi was losing his patience, screwing his eyes shut as he felt time slipping through his fingers. If he couldn't come up with something fast, Hiro needed to get other help, soon. "Fine."

What did fire need to exist? Fuel, duh, but he wasn't burning… Oxygen. Fire needed oxygen, that's why Baymax's chemicals worked. And you couldn't die by holding your breath, you'd pass out first, if your body didn't force you to breathe. This could work.

Tadashi shut his eyes, forcing all of the air out of his lungs until his brain screamed for another breath. Clamping a hand over his mouth and nose, he imagined the fire dying down, struggling to think around the clamor his body was putting up for more air. He felt his feet settle more firmly on the ground, no longer slightly lifted. Encouraged, he pictured a candle flickering out, even as his head began to pulse with his heartbeat.

Finally, he choked in a breath with a gasp, his survival instincts overriding his conscious thought. He rested his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath, silver cloth visible beneath his clenched fingers. That stuff really could handle insane temperatures… wait, cloth?

Tadashi brought his hands up to his face, no sign of flame anywhere.

It worked.

A sob of relief bubbled up as he hurriedly closed the gap between himself and where Baymax held Hiro's broken form. Baymax, determining what was going to happen, crouched down so Tadashi could reach. Tadashi wiped at the tears that now streamed readily down his face, coating his hand as well as he could in the orange liquid.

Please, please be enough.

Tadashi was infinitely grateful for the armor Hiro had been wearing, though a helmet would have served him well, too. Despite the fire, there were no visible burns, but the debris from the house itself left large gashes across his face, some of it still embedded in the material of his armor. Blood streamed down the side of Hiro's face, stemming from a wound along his hairline, likely the one that had knocked him out. The image burned into Tadashi's mind.

With a shaking hand, Tadashi reached out, wiping along the open wound to try and transfer the tears. It was inelegant, but hopefully effective.

For a terrifying moment, there didn't seem to be any change. Tadashi was ready to back away to give Baymax room to take off… however much that might be in his armor, when the skin began to stitch together. The wound sealed, the area above it red and then pink and then a paler tone of skin than the area around it, the new skin yet untouched by the sun.

Tadashi's gaze flickered between Baymax and his brother, waiting for a diagnosis. Just because things were closed now, did that mean..?

Hiro opened his eyes, squinting at the sun and groaning as he turned away to shield his eyes.

"What time is—" Hiro blinked, memories surging in again. He sat upright suddenly, holding his head when dizziness hit him.

"Please exercise caution," Baymax warned. "Though your wounds are healed, your body still needs time to replenish lost blood."

Hiro ignored him, rolling out of his grip so he was crouched beside Tadashi, and pulled his brother into a bone crushing hug. He had him back. He could have done without the building collapsing on him, the memory of the pain still fresh enough to make him shudder, but he'd go through it again if it meant keeping Tadashi safe.

For a moment Tadashi relaxed into the hug (as much as he could when Hiro's grip was like a vice around his ribs) before he gritted his teeth, hitting Hiro where he could reach with his small fists. Hiro probably couldn't feel it through the armor, but Tadashi didn't care.

"You idiot! You were supposed to be right behind me!" Tadashi's voice broke, a hiccup of breath interrupting him for a moment. "I can't bring back someone from the d-dead!"

"Probably." Hiro grunted, not expecting the force of the blow when Tadashi head butted his chest before the pseudo-five-year-old burst into tears again. "Sorry, sorry. No testing that, then."

Hiro ran a hand through the back of Tadashi's hair to try and calm him down, similarly to how his older brother had done when he was younger. He turned back to Baymax in confusion. "When did you get here?"

Tadashi's muffled voice answered. "Right a-after the building collapsed…"

Frowning, Hiro did the math in his head. There was no way all of that had transpired in the five to ten minutes it would have taken for Baymax to arrive after alerting Hiro to the location. Especially not if he factored in the time he'd taken to travel.

"Where were you?" There was anger in his voice, even as he remembered that a robot, no matter how sophisticated, wouldn't delay without good cause.

"There was… electronic interference. My sensors detected a perimeter I could not enter without malfunctioning or shutting down."

Baymax's statement alarmed Hiro. "That shouldn't be possible, you run on a battery… How?"

"I don't know, Hiro." Baymax blinked, sifting through information on his chips and internal drive, looking for a possible answer, but to no avail.

A flash of memory crossed Hiro's mind, his failing jet pack, the looks the two women had shot each other. Did they have anything to do with it?

Baymax continued, giving Hiro the information he had. "I was able to circle around it when it moved away, but was unable to sense anything within the perimeter." Baymax paused for a moment. "I can no longer detect a noticeable void like it."

Hiro sighed, mentally filing it away for later. There was so much he'd need to think through and figure out how to deal with. Right now, his first priority was Tadashi.

"Come on, let's get out of here before someone comes along." Or comes back. Hiro thought angrily, uncertain of the fates of any of his and Tadashi's attackers. When Tadashi had finally woken up, he'd taken precedence, and anyone left had (in some cases literally) gone up in smoke. He wasn't going to wait around for their return.

Hiro attempted to activate his jet pack, wondering if, since whatever had prevented Baymax from joining them was gone, they might work too. There was no response.

"Guess we're walking." Hiro started off in the direction of the café with Tadashi still in his arms when Baymax stood and walked alongside, offering another suggestion.

"Perhaps it would be better to get off the streets quickly. I can carry you both. Tadashi does not have any magnets as you do, but I can hold him in front."

Hiro frowned, nearly refusing before he caught himself. He'd be right there, it wasn't like Baymax was going to drop Tadashi or anything. What was he thinking?

"Fine." Hiro turned, letting Tadashi reach out and settle himself on Baymax. Only when he looked secure did Hiro go around the back, clambering up and letting his magnets lock in place. "Come on, Baymax. Let's go home."

**A.N.: I had a mild misunderstanding: I will not be able to post the story for the Big Hero 6 Big Bang until my assigned posting date. So, while the middle set of stories that I have been working on is done, it won't be posted until August-ish. However, I still have the prologue/epilogue to finish up, and I will be starting on the second 'book' of this to-be series. I will post those chapters and be careful to explain enough that understanding doesn't depend on the 'missing book', though it will definitely be something you will want to go back and read once it's posted. As for the next book ...still haven't picked a title even though I have 9 of the chapters outlined already. Oh well, I'll think of something. I'll tell you it in the next and final chapter segment to this part. (Time to tie up some loose ends... well... only a few, I've got more time.)

Thank you so so much to those who have stuck with me through this. To those who reviewed, messaged, and otherwise supported, I probably would have dropped this without you. I hope it was somewhat enjoyable.**