A/N: Hello again everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of Scientist! From here on out it should start picking up speed. Sadly there is no Chiune/Tadashi in this chapter. Lots and lots of Hiro and co though. The next couple of chapters will strictly be Chiune/Tadashi chapters. Also, I've had a few people tell me (sometimes many times!) that they can't wait for Chiune/Tadashi to meet Hiro and co. I promise it's coming! I swear! And I hope you guys all like how it happens. It was honestly one of the best scenes I wrote for this story. In the meantime, keep sending me your theories! I love getting them. It reminds me that people other than myself are actually invested in this crazy story! Which still blows my mind too! Seriously! You guys have no clue how awesome your support is!

Someone in a review pointed out to me that I never really gave an in depth description of Vera besides the typical black hair, green eyes bit. Part of it was because I couldn't really find a smooth place to put it into the first chapter without stopping the narrative. So for those of you who are curious beyond basics... here ya go! At 5' 1", Vera is a shorty mcshort short. It doesn't bother her all that much but she does tend to wear high heels that give her about 2 to 3 inches more of height. As far as her body build/type goes she slim but is fairly well muscled, she was a Superhero at one point after all and likes to keep in shape. She is also fairly narrow from her face, to her shoulders, to her hips. She has long black hair that falls below her shoulders but typically pulls it up into a ponytail when fighting or a bun during professional situations. Her eyes are easily the most expressive feature on her face. They're bright green, close set, and can tell you you're being dumb without Vera even opening her mouth. Of course at this point, I realize that some of you probably have your own images of the characters in your heads (including Vera) so please continue to picture her whatever way you so chose!

Alright enough gab! On to the story!

"I'm not so sure I like you kids doing this." Alistair Krei said hesitantly. Hiro spun around in the chair in front of the large computer desk. Krei had his arms folded over his chest and was leaning against the wall. Sunlight filtered into the spacious private office through floor to ceiling windows. There was a small part of Hiro that couldn't wait until he'd graduated and began working at Krei Tech with all his buddies. Their labs, they all had their own privates labs, were the same way. Alright, so it was a large part of Hiro that was chomping at the bit to work for Alistair Krei. Somehow, some way, he'd come to respect the man he once viewed as his enemy.

A lot of that had certainly had something to do with Callaghan. His initial words of warning against Krei followed by Hiro's own discovery of the failed portal demonstration had skewed his opinions of Krei. However, in the months following Callaghan's defeat and subsequent arrest, he'd seen the case files from the failed portal experiment for himself. Krei's gesture of goodwill towards him and the team, to show them that there was no bad blood between them. It had also been to show them that he genuinely wanted to help them out in the future. Krei's science hadn't been as dodgy and risky as Callaghan had originally led him to believe.

Hiro gave him a hard look, "How is this any different than what we do on a regular basis? How is this any different from stopping Callaghan like we did last time?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because Callaghan just happens to be the man who killed your brother? That, in and of itself, makes this completely different than what you do on a regular basis. Callaghan isn't some run away cable car or some falling bridge. It's personal." Krei was looking directly at him but then paused and looked up at Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred, and GoGo with the same stern look that he'd given Hiro. "It's personal for all of you. Did any of you stop to think about how Callaghan escaped from a supermaximum security prison? He didn't do it without help."

"I did." GoGo said with a shrug. She was leaning against the computer desk. Hiro shot her a scowl from the corner of his eyes.

Krei shook his head and massaged his temples before continuing. "I'm not going to lie to you guys. There are people out there that you really don't want to attract the notice of. There are people you've already attracted the notice of."

"Are we talking about S.H.I.E.L.D. again?" Honey Lemon asked in confusion.

"Yes," Krei started.

"I thought you were taking care of them?" Wasabi pointed out.

"I am but…" Krei tried again.

"Then why are we still on their radar?" GoGo pressed. She blew a bubble and pulled it back into her mouth without popping it.

"Because you guys are doing things like this!" Krei finished in exasperation. He waved his hand towards the computer that Hiro was currently working at. Baymax's helmet was wired and configured to the computer tower as Hiro worked to scale up and increase the scanning procedures. "I told you kids that I would handle S.H.I.E.L.D. for you but I'm letting you know here and now that there are people out here who may want to know more about you that I doubt will play nice and let me dodge questions from them. People that break a known Supervillain out of a supermax prison cell!"

"Another Supervillain maybe!" Fred offered. His voice, as always when talking about certain unsavory things in the Superhero line of work, sound way, way too enthusiastic. "How cool would that be!"

"Yes, because more people who want to kill us would definitely be cool." Wasabi said sarcastically.

Krei stared at Fred, blinking and trying figure out if he'd actually heard him right. After a moment of deliberation, Krei gave a heavy groan. "Sometimes I wonder about you Frederick. Sometimes I wonder." he mumbled under his breath.

"If it was another Supervillain that broke Callaghan out…" Honey Lemon said tentatively, as if she were still trying to piece together the thought herself, "Do we really think that he or she will come after us? I mean we haven't done anything to anyone. Right?"

"I got it!" Fred yelled, snapping his fingers. "What if we're just so awesome that this new villain wants to challenge us for supremacy."

There was a collective groan from the entire group. Krei continued to massage his temples, digging his fingers deeper into his skin. Hiro rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer screen. It had been configuring itself while they'd been talking but now it was ready for perimeter coordinates. "Alright guys, what's our search perimeter?" he asked as he typed away on the keyboard.

The cursor blinked in the coordinates box as he waited for the others to help him out. "A hundred miles radius." suggested GoGo as she peered over his shoulder. "He probably hasn't gotten very far. He's most likely trying to lay low and travel when there aren't as many people on the roads. Less people to spot him."

"You can rule out any distance into the ocean." added Honey Lemon.

"Not unless he decided he really wanted to go for a swim first thing after escaping." Wasabi agreed.

"I'm leaving it in." Hiro told them shaking his head. "There are islands off the coast. We all know how much Callaghan likes island getaways."

"Keep it under twenty miles though. I don't think Callaghan would go for any islands that are much farther than that." suggested GoGo.

"Stretch it farther south." Fred offered. "I still say he's coming our way."

Hiro hesitated for a moment but plugged the coordinates in afterall. It wouldn't hurt to know if Callaghan was indeed moving towards San Fransokyo. All the better to be ready to greet him with one of Baymax's rocket fists when he arrived.

With no other suggestions, he hit enter. The progress bar appeared on the screen and the loading icon spun slowly. "It will take awhile to run the scan maybe twenty-four hours or so but until then we can keep an eye on our other intel feeds. Fred, Honey Lemon. That's all you."

"Right!" both of them chimed together. Fred did a ridiculous kind of salute that made Honey Lemon giggle.

"Alright, now that you five have usurped my office for the morning and my main computer for the next twenty-four hours…" Krei said, "some of you owe me time in the lab today and work done on your other promising projects. Fred, that advertising report you told me you'd have finished yesterday… yeah still waiting on it. And some of you, Hiro, should really think about getting back SFIT to study for the engineering midterm coming up."

"Pfft," snorted Hiro and waving his hand dismissively, "I've got that in the bag."

Krei only rolled his eyes. Tadashi probably would've done the same thing while proceeding to drag him back to nerd school.

The sudden thought brought a pang of grief to his chest. Tadashi would've graduated with Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and GoGo the year before. Hiro wondered what he would've been doing with his education. He thought about that every day. Probably working on something that would've helped a lot of people. Tadashi probably would still be working on Baymax rather than it being him.

A sudden buzz burst through his thoughts.

"Mr. Krei," Krei's assistant said through the intercom, "someone's here to see you."

Krei frowned and checked his watch before crossing the office to the desk. "I don't have any appointments until noon." he told his secretary.

There was a moment of silence as Krei waited for his secretary to respond. The intercom buzzed again. "She says she doesn't have an appointment. Her name is Vanellope Delle, an investigator from S.H.I.E.L.D."

Hiro and everyone else turned to look at Krei. Krei openly winced. He picked up the phone and hit the privacy button. "Get rid of her. Tell her I'm not available...I don't care how. Just..."

There was a pause as he listened to what his secretary had to say on the other end. His face got more and more agitated the longer he listened. He growled under his breath. "Oh I'm sure she doesn't." he muttered darkly. "Alright fine, just give me a moment...wait a minute! Hold on!"

He hung up the phone, slamming it into the cradle. "Yes, you look like you've got S.H.I.E.L.D. covered." GoGo told him sarcastically.

Krei was actually flustered enough that he didn't say anything about it. He turned to them all. "Like I said. You kids have gotten people's attention and it looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. just ran out of patience with me dodging questions. Head out the back door and hurry! I've got a meeting with Vanellope Delle apparently and she just can't wait to see me."

Hiro got out of the chair and then froze. Baymax's helmet was still hooked to the computer. There was no way to remove it without disrupting the search. "Krei," he said pointing to the helmet.

Krei groaned again. He pulled his suit jacket off and threw it over the helmet. "Go! Quickly. My secretary said that Delle blew right past her."

"Come on Hiro." Honey Lemon said, taking him under the arm and pulling him to the back door that Krei had in his office that would take them down to Krei Tech's many labs.

They all piled through the door and not a moment too soon. There was a solid knock on the front door to Krei's office. Hiro didn't have enough time to shut the door after him. "Welcome Ms. Delle." Krei said brightly, as though he'd never been agitated by her appearance at his office building. Hiro couldn't see him but he heard the door close and saw Vanellope Delle walk into the room.

She was a lot younger than what he would've pegged an investigator from S.H.I.E.L.D. for. Much younger, probably early twenties. Despite her youth, Vanellope Delle was dressed sharp and professional in a suit and black stiletto heels. Her black hair was pulled into a sleek bun at the back of her head and she was wearing a pair of black framed glasses over her green eyes. "Mr. Krei, thank you for seeing me." she said.

Vanellope Delle's voice was sweet and pleasant but there was something just off about the way she spoke. It put him immediately on guard. "Well, I must admit that you did put me on the spot Ms. Delle." Krei told her with a curt kind of tone. He must have made some sort of motion for her to come farther into the office because she disappeared from eyesight.

"I'm so sorry to come bursting in without an appointment but I'm afraid my bosses are quite concerned with the turn of events up north." she told him rather primly, "It seems that there is a Supervillain on the loose. One that you have close ties with."

Someone pulled on his arm to drag him away, most likely Honey Lemon, but Hiro shook his head. "Dude come on!" hissed Wasabi.

"No, wait!" Hiro hissed back. "She's talking about Callaghan. Maybe she knows something!"

"What if…" GoGo started to protest but Fred immediately cut her off with a 'shh.' He fell in beside Hiro at the crack in the door. Neither one could see anything but thankfully Delle's voice carried.

"Robert Callaghan was a renowned scientist. His daughter is a valued member of my research and development staff." Krei admitted readily.

"Yes, I've heard that she still works for you even after her father's conviction and incarceration. Must aggravate Dr. Callaghan to no end that the child he thought dead by the man he held responsible still works for you." Vanellope Delle said conversationally. It sounded incredibly forced though. Not to mention bold and rude.

"Yes," Krei answered, sounding equally forced. "I'm sure that Dr. Callaghan is less than thrilled about the fact that Abigail still works for me. Though Miss Delle, I'm wondering exactly why you're here."

"I'm acting as an investigator for S.H.I.E.L.D. You've been avoiding my higher ups. They're concerned. Especially about the fact that the Supervillain who attempted to kill you a few years ago, has just recently escaped from prison."

Krei laughed a little. "And here I thought you had only barged into my office to grill me about people I know nothing about."

"Big Hero 6 you mean." Delle said innocently enough but there was still something that sounded fake to him. "Any insight you can give us into them would be helpful as well."

"Ah...and thus it begins. Unfortunately I can't help because I don't know anything about them." Krei said in a tone that was clearly meant to be dismissive and close the subject.

"So you keep insisting." Delle told Krei. Hiro didn't miss the note of disbelief in her voice. Immediately he bristled. Who exactly was this girl? To think that she could just shove her way into a private office and shove her nose into their business, it was incredible really. "Have you thought about how you might know more than you realize by any chance?"

"I'm not sure if I understand what you mean." Krei responded with deliberate calculation. He knew exactly what Delle was talking about. There was no way though that he was going to let on to that though.

There was the sound of someone shifting. "What I mean, Mr. Krei, is exactly that. There was a reason that they showed up to stop the Supervillain that was trying to destroy your company and kill you. Did anyone from Big Hero 6 appear to know Dr. Callaghan? Did they seem to have any prior connections to him?"

"I fail to see how this has anything to do with the situation at hand." Krei said stiffly.

"Let me put it to you this way Mr. Krei. Robert Callaghan, aka Yokai, is a Supervillain. A special combination of social and mental instabilities all rolled into one body with nasty intentions. You are only one person that Dr. Callaghan may have a lingering vendetta against. The other person, or rather people, is Big Hero 6. Supervillains fixate. They can't help it."

"Boom! I told you! He's coming here!" crowed Fred as he pumped his arm through the air. Immediately, GoGo's hand was wrapped around his mouth and everyone was hissing at him to shut up. Hiro moved closer to the door to see if he could see Krei and Vanellope Delle. He couldn't.

"I'm still not sure if I follow you Miss Delle." Krei said crisply.

"Tell me this. After Big Hero 6 saved Abigail Callaghan, did the good doctor give up his desire for revenge?"

"Where could she possibly be going with this?" Honey Lemon asked in confusion. She scooted closer to the door so that she could hear a little better.

"She's fishing for something. For what I don't know but she's definitely fishing." Hiro mumbled under his breath.

"You mean after all the grief you people at S.H.I.E.L.D. have given me you can't tell me that you don't know that answer to that question." Krei snorted.

"Just answer the question Mr. Krei." replied Delle. Any and all pretense of politeness dropped away. Vanellope Delle's voice went from pleasant to abrasive in nothing flat. He decided then and there that he really didn't like Vanellope Delle, S.H.I.E.L.D. investigator.

"It seemed like he had at the trial. In fact, I even believe that it was part of his own attorney's argument. The driving force behind his emotional distress was removed and therefore he was no longer a danger...or something along those lines." Krei told her crisply, bordering on waspish. It wasn't hard to imagine Krei moving his hand through the air dismissively.

Delle matched his tone, "Yes, well, one does wonder if he was sincere or putting on a show. What do you think Mr. Krei?"

"I really couldn't even begin to tell you just like I couldn't even begin to tell you where your line of questioning is supposed to be leading me." Krei told Delle in exasperation.

"Do you think it's at all possible that this team of Superheroes knew Dr. Callaghan? Had some sort of prior connection to him?" Delle pointedly ignored Krei's question.

"How would I know that?" Hiro didn't miss the subtle way that Callaghan stumbled a bit.

"Exactly who is this woman?" growled GoGo. Her hand clenched into a fist.

"I don't know but she is way, way pushy." Wasabi mumbled back, his eyes narrowing.

"The way they reacted to him, anything they said to him?" prompted Delle.

"I was a little busy trying not to get dragged into the portal to nowhere Callaghan had set up over top my company." Krei replied icily. "Where are you going with this and why are you people so bent on finding Big Hero 6?"

"All I'm saying is that, at the moment, my bosses are considering Callaghan armed and dangerous. It is possible that Callaghan could be coming straight here to San Fransokyo in search of either you or Big Hero 6, especially if his attorney's line about giving up his vendetta was just that…a line. You're a smart man Mr. Krei. You connect the dots."

Krei laughed openly at her. "Is this S.H.I.E.L.D.'s way of telling me that they are worried about me and my company? Because let me assure you that I think I am safe from escaped Supervillains."

"I see…" Delle said in a tone that he could only describe as completely skeptical.

"This is insane. Robert Callaghan's desire to kill me was mitigated when Abigail was found alive and rescued. I think S.H.I.E.L.D. is just a little too paranoid about the entire situation. You people are blowing this way out of proportion. I highly doubt that I'm in any sort of danger whatsoever. I'm sure Callaghan will be found soon enough and he will be back in prison." Krei told her. The confidence in his voice was astounding, even to Hiro's own ears. The amount of faith Krei placed in him and the others was unbelievably awesome.

There was a long pause. So long in fact that the atmosphere around them all got downright chilly. "Your arrogance is really quite astonishing." Vanellope Delle told Krei critically. "Everything about your demeanor is flippant, cocky. You robbed a man of his daughter for several years. As I said, Supervillains like to fixate. To think that you're completely safe is unrealistic."

"I assure you, I am quite untouchable. Miss Delle, please ensure your bosses over at S.H.I.E.L.D. that I don't need their help. If you could tell them as well that I don't know anything about Big Hero 6 while you're at it, I would be grateful."

"Mr. Krei," Vanellope Delle's voice grew strangely quiet. "You fail to see the gravity and the danger of the situation. You aren't untouchable, not by a longshot. You may think that your money, your prestige, your newfound philanthropy work may grant you that status but you are gravely mistaken."

"Miss Delle…" Krei hedged in warning. Krei was done with Vanellope Delle. He was about to make that crystal clear. However, Delle cut him off before he could do just that.

"I want to make one thing very clear Mr. Krei. This isn't a threat. This is a warning." There was a heavy note in Delle's voice. Something that took Hiro off guard. Something that forced Hiro to listen to every word she said now. Gone was the abrasive tone. Gone was the show of politeness and pleasantries. This was pure and unadulterated seriousness. "Any information on either Callaghan or Big Hero 6 would be a tremendous help to us at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm afraid I don't have any information to give you." Krei insisted flatly.

It was deadly silent. He was certain that Krei and Delle could hear he and the others breathing from the back hallway because it was so quiet. There was a scraping sound as someone, Delle most likely, pushed the chair back and stood. "If you change your mind about cooperating with us, please give us a call."

"I doubt my mind will change but I will keep it in mind." responded Krei in a bright voice that sounded just as forced as Delle's pleasantness had. There was more movement. It was as loud as thunder in Hiro's ears because he'd stopped breathing. Actually, he was certain that his heart had stopped beating. A chair scraped against the tile and it sounded as though both Krei and Vanellope Delle had stood. Then there was a muted thud, two of them. One was quieter and the second much louder. It sounded suspiciously like when Baymax's carbon fiber armor hit the ground. Krei swore under his breath and Hiro froze. There was a very, very long pause after someone, probably Krei, scrambled to pick up whatever had fallen.

"I could be wrong though." Vanellope Delle was smirking. He couldn't see her but he knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. "Perhaps your sense of untouchableness is born out of the sense that you have friends who can protect you. Have a good day Mr. Krei."

Vanellope Delle's back reappeared in his line of sight at the front door. She turned back and flashed Krei a grin that almost seemed feral to Hiro. Then she was out the door, closing it with a soft click.

Hiro opened the back door. Standing at his desk was a stunned Krei. In one hand was his suit jacket and in the other was Baymax's helmet. Hiro's stomach dropped. There was a collective groan from everyone behind him. "I get the distinctive feeling that that woman really doesn't like me." Krei said stiffly before looking over at them apologetically the mask still in his hand.

Sneak Peek at next week's Chapter!

"Long story short, Callaghan definitely has some sort of prior connection to Big Hero 6. However deep or big it may be is yet to be determined." Vera said

XXX

"What's that?"

"A new blog. Went live this morning shortly before we got here this morning. Found it while I was looking for local info on Big Hero 6." he explained.

XXX

The door opened and the young face of Abigail Callaghan appeared before him.

Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited! There are almost 80 followers for this story with is mind boggling to me sometimes so thank you so much!

Shout outs to last chapter's reviewers!

Allanna Stone: One update as you so requested!

InsanityIsClarity: They will! They will! I promise. There's just some plot stuff to get through before our favorite brothers are reunited. Hopefully, when it does come it doesn't disappoint! Also, thank you so much for your support! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

akizaki14: I know exactly what art you're talking about! I actually saved some of Sorarts's pictures of older!Hiro on my Tumblr account as inspiration for Hiro's appearance in this story.

Nobody (anon reviewer): Thanks for your feedback on Vera! OCs in fanfictions can be difficult because I know some people just aren't into them. When I first decided to put her in the story, I knew that Vera couldn't be a love interest. I wanted to write a pseudo-sibling relationship and there really wasn't time for a romantic subplot in the story. Everyone is too busy chasing after Hydra and Callaghan.

Silver-09: The first meeting doesn't quite happen that way, but I think you will still like how it all goes down.

UntitledJoy: Yeah, it did get a bit angsty there (for both Chiune/Tadashi and Hiro). However, I think it was justified. I really feel like being out in the open with everyone staring at his scars would make Chiune/Tadashi incredibly self-conscious. The poor guy probably only went out when Vera could drag him from the apartment. No one is confident one hundred percent of the time. As far as Hiro goes, the poor kid just found out that the man who he thinks murdered his brother is walking free. I probably can't even begin to understand what that really feels like. I hope some of the angsty stuff didn't put you off too much.

Guest (anon reviewer): It's funny that you use the term ghost. It does kind of come up at one point.

bukalay: Pain! Love it... Yeah, I definitely modeled that particular conversation off of the opening of the movie. There are just some lines that fit too perfectly with the situation not to use. I also feel like referencing things that Tadashi's said in the past demonstrates that his memories of his life before Hydra are still in his mind somewhere, buried deep.