A/N: Sorry, this chapter is super short, but I needed to stop it where I did because of how I'm going to write the next chapter. Please review, they make me happy. :)
"Callaghan's in there," Tadashi said. "Someone has to help."
"Please, Tadashi," Hiro cried. "D-don't leave me." Tadashi's gaze bounced from Hiro to the showcase building. This momentary hesitation was all it took. The showcase building exploded sending both boys back a couple feet. They were unharmed, and rose on shaky legs, walking to Wasabi's van were Aunt Cass and the rest of their friends were waiting.
"What happened?" Go-Go demanded when they arrived. "What was all the noise?"
"There was a fire," Tadashi said. "The showcase building- Callaghan-" The shock of what had just happened had rendered the young man almost speechless. Hiro spoke up to fill in the missing pieces.
"What the stupid bonehead is trying to say is that the showcase building just exploded in a fiery inferno, and Callaghan was still inside, which means he's dead." Everyone was staring at Hiro, surprised by his angry outburst. "Tadashi would be dead too if I hadn't stopped him from making a complete idiotic fool of himself by running into the building in hopes that he could "save" Callaghan." Hiro's cheeks were streaked with tears. Suddenly Tadashi locked on to Hiro in a tight embrace as tears made their way down his face too.
"Hiro I-I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I will never leave you. I-I promise." Aunt Cass joined the hug, then Wasabi, Fred, Go-Go, and Honey Lemon all followed suit.
A couple days later, there was a memorial service held in honor of Callaghan. After the service, Tadashi went upstairs, and sat on his bed. For hours each day Tadashi would sit, staring blankly at the wall. Aunt Cass tried to get him to eat, but it was to no avail. He wouldn't eat, talk, or interact with took Aunt Cass' advice, and gave him space, as did his other friends. This space did not stop them all from sending him a video letting him know that he was missed back at the lab. Every night after school, Hiro would come up to their room and tell Tadashi about his day. Tadashi still didn't respond to him, but Hiro did it anyway. The "conversations" usually went something like this.
"So Fred was going on and on about invisible sandwiches, and then Go-Go got massively frustrated, and she threw a wrench at him. It hit him in the head and he was all like 'I'm totally offended that you would hit me in the head with a wrench just because you don't think invisible sandwiches are real science.' So then he went to Honey Lemon and started asking her to make him a fire breathing suit. She just ignored him for a while. He went on for like five minutes, then she finally snapped. It really kind of surprised me when she yelled at him. She was like 'Fred! Will you please shut up? I am trying to work, and it is very hard to focus when I have you droning on in my ears about fire freaking breathing dragon suits!' She apologized later, and of course Fred forgave her, but there's still a lot of tension at the lab. On other things though, Go-Go's bike goes ten miles an hour faster now…" A new normal was formed with this schedule, and then the normal was disrupted.