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AN: While the previous chapters all had humorous little bits for their opening, this one will be different. The chronicles of Stan and Fred will continue in issue #5.

Earlier this month, a young man by the name of Monty Oum passed away. I'm not sure how many, if anyone who reads this recognizes or knows that name, but I wanted to dedicate this chapter to him. By strange coincidence, this chapter does deal with something directly connected to him, not his work, but him as a person. So this week's chapter is being released today instead of Thursday as the previous have been. Chapter five will be released on time next Thursday at minimum, though I might update sooner. Some details will be in the closing AN.

This chapter is being released early in support of the wishes and requests of his friends, family and crew after his passing: As for honoring Monty, we will do that in our own way. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to.

"Keep moving forward." -Monty Oum, 1981-2015

"You want me to what?"

"Just, you know, stop by to see him, check in on him. Is that really a big deal?" GoGo asked as she stirred her (now cold) ramen noodles.

"Normally, no, but this? Uhhh, yes..."

"This? What ish his suppose to mean?" Phone in one hand and chopsticks in the other she frowned.

"We haven't seen each other or even like, talked in weeks, then out of nowhere you call me asking if I'd hang out with Hiro? Yeah, I'd call that strange, well, maybe weird...or at least suspicious."

"What's suspicious about it? I'm just a little worried about him, everything going on and all that. He still hasn't enrolled and we haven't heard from him since Callaghan was taken in. I just mought met, you bow? You mew got along great, goth comic nerds you know?" Setting down her chopsticks she grabbed her (unfortunately now warm) soda.

"Well first of all you're eating, and I happen *know* how much you hate people talking to you or talking to other people when eating cause it makes you nauseous. It's why you made me eat my sneakers last year," Fred fired back with a deadpan voice before continuing "second is this whole thingy...thing itself. I've know you for over a year, and I've never seen you or heard of you asking someone to do anything like that."

"Are you implying that I only care about myself?"

Fred could literally feel her glare across the line.

"N-no, no, nothing like that, in fact I know you care about people. We were all there when you clotheslined that purse snatcher."

"Then what exactly are you trying to imply?" she hissed.

"I'm implying that you're acting an awful lot like you're afraid of something, and like you are hiding something...and I think...no, I know you're lying about something."

"..."

"I'm coming over, we'll talk when I get there."

"What?! No, Fred, don't you dare-"

*Knock knock knock*

Her jaw hit the ground almost as fast as her phone did.

Quickly moving to her door, she checked the peephole to see a grinning Fred waving.

"Okay, that is officially creepy."

Unlocking her door, all but the chain she opened it part way.

"Fred, what on earth are you doing here this late?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Not that Fred could see it as it wasn't the exposed eye.

"I was giving Wasabi a hand when you called...uh...oh uh."

"Fred I need some more light down here. You there man? Fred! FRED!"

"But I'm sure he's okay. You going to let me in or not?" Several moments of silence passed, but neither moved. GoGo was sure that if she waited long enough he would just leave, but as moments turned into minutes, she sighed and closed the door, removed the chain then opened it.

Fred of course was smiling all the same.

"Ohh! Fish and," *sniff* *sniff* "beef? No wait, fish and pork! Man I'm starving you got any more?"

Before GoGo could close the door, let alone answer him he was already going through her cupboards.

"Alllll right! Chicken and dumplings, score! Where did you find this stuff by the way? They haven't made it since forever!"

Mentally, GoGo wondered if she should warn him that the stockpile of instant noodles had been there when she moved in a year and a half ago, but that train of thought was knocked aside by another more pressing one.

"Wh-"

"Now, you've got two minutes to tell me what's really going on here with Hiro."

The typically warm and almost goofy smile was still present, but somehow...different. Something about Fred's eyes had changed. Added to that he wasn't leaning back, slouching or using her table as an ottoman. Under different circumstances she would have been impressed; she didn't even think Fred could behave like this.

"Okay, this I did not expect."

"Look, something's going on, I might not be the most serious guy around, but I'm not a complete idiot. What's got you so worked up that you called me out of the blue?"

Peeling her gum from the table she popped it back into her mouth and started chewing.

*Pop*

"Nothing is up Fred, I just thought he could use a friend. Someone to hang out with. You remember how his face lit up when he saw your room, like a kid in a candy store."

Fred's only response was a raised eyebrow of his own.

"Actually, I didn't know, I was still kinda feeling the rush from that awesome chase and splashdown. Sweet moves by the way, forgot to give you props for saving our butts."

*Pop*

Shrugging her shoulders GoGo was nonplussed.

"That aside, now I'm really curious to find out why you're trying to drop him off on me like this."

Gaping, GoGo froze.

"I'm not trying to drop him off-"

"How is he by the way?"

"Ugh, he's fine, a little down but-"

Fred's grin was met with a familiar *pop*

"Got you lying GoGo," Fred chimed with a knowing grin.

"I can still make you eat your shoes nerd," she threatened, trying to cover her annoyance at getting caught in her lie.

"Come onnnnn GoGo, we're friends, you don't need to try and pull some kind of shell game on me, you know that. I love kids, and I love helping them. So what's up?"

Sighing, GoGo slumped into the seat across from him.

"I...ugh, I hate you, you know that?"

Waving off her scowl, Fred rolled his fingers, telling her to get on with it and stop stalling.

"Friday I stopped by the Lucky Cat to, get something to eat. Purely by coincidence," she defended.

"Oh of course," Fred replied, she could tell he knew she was lying.

"And...when I got there Cass was...off, and asked me to try and talk to him."

Brows furrowed, Fred leaned forward with a slightly worried look. "She asked you to try and talk to him? Not to talk to him?"

*Pop*

"She said...ugh, Fred, look, he's not well. He needs a friend, badly, between his brother and their room and the cops; he's...he's alone okay?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up, roll back, start from the start. You said he needs a friend? Why do you think he needs a friend, specifically?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? He's alone, I mean it, seriously, he's locked himself up in his and his brothers room again because of the police treating him like he's some kind of threat to the city."

"Locked himself up in his and his brother's room again?"

"YES! AGAIN FRED! Like he did last time, when Tadashi died."

"Calm down GoGo, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here. You said he's locked himself in his and his brother's room, again. What room? Do you mean the garage, or they have some kind of hobby room up in the attic?"

Sighing once again, GoGo took a deep breath.

"No, I mean their room, as in bedroom. Hiro and Tadashi shared a room since Cass took them in."

"Really? Wow...that must...man, not much room," Fred thought out loud.

"It's...not that bad actually. The room itself I mean, it was plenty big for two people. The entire third floor is just one room, with a bathroom."

"Not that bad? You mean you saw it? Or Hiro told you about it?"

"I saw it for myself, he was holed up in there and, well I didn't know he was in there, not exactly. Cass just asked me to talk to him but didn't tell me where he was, so I went up the stairs and found him in there. I woke him up and it took awhile just to get him to talk to me, but...Fred? The police know about us...him, they know Hiro was there when we took down Callaghan, they've interrogated him and they've practically taken everything from the room, except the wires they left there."

"Wait, what? Hiro's only a kid, he's fourteen, how could they interrogate a minor?"

"...well, I...don't know, to be honest. I mean I was interrogated when I was sixteen...but they did pull me out of the car I stole at the time, maybe probable cause or something like that?"

Fred shook his head.

"Naw, it doesn't work like that. They can't question a minor unless they are arrested at the scene of a crime...and why would they bug his room?"

GoGo just gave him a deadpan look.

"Right, sorry, you're talking, my bad. Back to Hiro, him and Tadashi shared a room? For all that time?"

"From what I can tell, their place isn't big, but it's not exactly tiny either. I guess it worked for them...but..."

"Now that Tadashi is gone, Hiro's alone and stuck in that room."

GoGo nodded.

"Man, that sucks...poor kid..."

"After the police took everything, it's just...empty now. They left his clothes, and a clock, but that's pretty much it. Him and Cass," "Cass and he," Fred interrupted, but she ignored him, "both told me that cops follow them everywhere they go, and there's at least one sitting in the cafe all day from opening to closing."

Leaning her head down to try and get a better look at her friend, GoGo frowned.

"Something wrong Fred?"

"Yeah...a lot of things actually...this whole thing stinks of a setup."

"Setup?"

"You said they know Hiro was there when we took down Callaghan right?"

"Yeah, because Callaghan told them he took Hiro's microbots. Why?"

"...GoGo, if they know Hiro was there, shouldn't they know the rest of us were there too? Callaghan saw all of us, he knew who we were."

"No, no no no, not like that. Callaghan told them he stole Hiro's microbots, he didn't tell them Hiro was there, or any of us."

"Exactly my point. How did they find out Hiro was there? The only way I could see would be if they searched his room and found something there."

"You mean like his armor?"

"Couldn't have, it's still locked up in my place. It just doesn't make any sense...if Callaghan told them it was us, then we'd all have the cops up our asses, not just Hiro..."

The two were silent for a moment before both looked up.

"Baymax!"

"His gauntlet, Hiro took it with him, they must have found it while searching his room," GoGo started.

"And when they asked him about it he told them what happened," Fred finished.

"But...why are they watching just him like a hawk and not all of us? You know Wasabi would know if anyone bugged his lab station, or was following him."

Once again the room fell silent, until an ear to ear grin split on Fred's face.

"Hiro didn't tell them about us."

"What?"

"Hiro, he told them he was there, what he did, but he didn't tell them squat about us. The kid's got some serious spine if he didn't spill about the rest of us. It would also explain why they're watching him and Cass the way they are." Seeing GoGo's confused face he snickered.

"Really? You don't get it?"

"Get what?"

"GoGo, it's a stake out, they're using Hiro as bait to try and get the rest of us. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a tail now following you wherever you go," Fred pointed out.

In the back of her mind GoGo felt a great deal of pity for whoever had been following her the last few days, if indeed they had been.

"Not like it would be that hard to figure out who we are. All of our projects are open sourced, and plenty of people have seen our demonstrations," GoGo countered.

"Ah! But have you seen any pictures or videos of us at Krei? I seem to recall the reporter saying something about us vanishing without a trace, or something like that. If I was going to bet money on this, I'd say it's the military or the government that's doing this, not the cops. There aren't that many people out there who can get a wire put in someone's house like that, even fewer who can interrogate a minor without parental consent. Nobody saw us out there but us and Callaghan, and I don't see him talking much."

"Might give him a better deal if he did," GoGo muttered.

"Oh yeah, a choice between a cell with a view outside and a cell with a view of a brick wall maybe. Callaghan screwed up, bad, but I don't think he is completely-" Fred stopped cold at the look GoGo was now giving him.

"What I mean is, none of us have had any trouble, so I don't think Hiro or Callaghan have told them anything, and you know the news crews would be having a field day with any footage or pictures of us out there fighting. They're probably waiting for his team to come check on him."

"And I visited him...in broad daylight...crap," GoGo managed before slamming her head onto the table.

"Hey, it's not that bad, they haven't gotten anything on you unless you slipped on that suit of yours since you checked in on him...you...uh, haven't have you?"

"Mo," GoGo muttered, face still plastered against the table. Raising her head she shook it once. "I haven't put that thing on since, well, then."

"Good, that means you can help Hiro."

"Yeah? Wait-what?!"

"GoGo, you've already been tagged, if they've got him under watch like you said; now it's going to look suspicious if you don't hang around him, they'll think he warned you or something and now you're staying away."

"W-well what about you!? If they're following me then they know I called you, talked to you, they know you know they know about this...right?" Pausing, GoGo cringed at what she just said. "Oh god, now you've got me believing your conspiracy theories." Moaning she started massaging her temples.

"Not really. SFIT is privately owned and funded remember? It would be a colossal legal nightmare for them to get any surveillance equipment in here, at least compared to someone's house. And even if they did, I doubt it would last long."

Giving Fred a questioning look, he just started laughing. "Seriously, if someone tried planting a bug or a camera, it wouldn't last an hour. As paranoid as half the nerds here are about their projects, especially after what happened with ESU a few years back, un uh, not happening. Just be careful what you do or say outside...or near any windows..." Fred glanced over her shoulder to see that yes, the windows did indeed have their blinds drawn.

Seeing her pensive look, Fred frowned. "They'll leave you alone after awhile, just do what you normally do, well, and hang out around Hiro a few times a week or so."

"I...don't know about that..." looking down for a moment before turning her attention to Fred, she continued."He's not exactly...Fred, I asked you to hang out with him for a reason. After Tadashi died, he sat in that room for three months, three months Fred."

Crossing his arms, Fred nodded. "Yeah, it took a bad situation and made it worse. Honestly I wish I had known about that at the funeral, I would have gone up there if I did. It's just a constant reminder that he lost his brother. You'd think Cass would have moved him into another room by now."

"I wish it was that simple."

"Hm?"

Sagging, GoGo took another deep breath. "Hiro...isn't just reminded about Tadashi's death being in that room Fred. He...he blames himself for it...and for Callaghan."

"What? Why? That doesn't even make sense...why would he blame himself?"

"Fred, do you know why Hiro applied to come here?"

"Yeah, Tadashi brought him...oh, oh man; you mean he's blaming himself for that? That tanks...but it's not true...well, it is, but...not like that. There was no way he could have known Callaghan was carrying that kind of baggage."

"It's not that, not exactly. He applied because of Callaghan, not Tadashi. Hiro...he looked up to him, idolized him. He thinks that if he never applied, Tadashi and Baymax would still be here, and Callaghan would...well, still be Professor Callaghan." As she explained this she could see Fred's expression shift from curiosity to surprise, then to something else.

Breathing heavily, Fred swept one hand through his hair before giving a heavy exhale.

Several long moments passed before he shook his head.

"Fred, there was no way any of us could have known he was dealing with that," she offered.

"Yeah, there is. If we'd tried talking to him, just stopped by to see him...you know, be an actual friend to him..."

"Except he wasn't our friend then, he was Tadashi's little brother."

The mild glare Fred gave her was short lasting, but she did see it.

"So if you knew about this, why did you ask me to hang out with him? You were there already," he pointed out, giving her a curious look.

"I'm not exactly the comforting type Fred, that's more of Honey Lemon's thing," pausing as his 'look' remained fixed, she buckled. "And I saw you on one of those Big Brother Big Sister fliers...I thought, you know, you would be better with that sort of thing."

While the glare was gone, a rather powerful frown of disappointment was present.

"That's what everyone says GoGo, and it's half the problem."

"Hm?"

"Find someone else to help them, to deal with it, someone who knows what they're doing. That's just an excuse."

"I-that's not true Fred. I just...I don't know what to do with this kind of...that okay? This isn't like helping someone up that scraped their knee, or driving someone that broke a bone to the hospital. Hiro's messed up, seriously, and majorly messed up, and he's been bottled up in that room for three months like a pressure cooker."

"He's a kid GoGo, not a time bomb."

"Really? Could have fooled me after what he did at the bunker," she fired back.

Narrowing his eyes, but frown still in place, Fred shook his head in disbelief. "Are you actually...afraid of Hiro?"

The image of Baymax looming over her, fist raised and red eyes blazing flashed across her memory.

"Not...exactly...of him, just what he might do."

"That's the same thing; you can't just start thinking like that. He's one of the good guys remember? He proved that, he's still proving it now. He's sitting by himself, in that room, blaming himself for his brother's death and what Callaghan did, all for us. I don't know if I could do that if I was in his shoes."

When he saw that his point had completely missed the mark he knew he'd have to explain it to her.

"After what happened at the exhibition hall, what did we do for him? We sent him an E-card GoGo, one E-card, that's it, until Baymax called us and asked us to help him at the docks. And since then, we haven't exactly given him any reasons to protect us."

"Can't you just...Big Brother him?"

Another disappointed sigh, another head shake. "Un-believable, you're really that afraid of him?"

"I'm NOT afraid of him Fred, I just...look, we know that Hiro, is capable of things that are dangerous. It takes certain triggers, but it can happen. Do you really think it's a good idea for anyone that doesn't know what they are doing to try and help him? Me of all people especially? I'm not supportive, and I'm certainly not maternal, period. Hiro needs help, from someone that can help him."

"What he needs, is someone to care, and to try. Even if you mess up, just being there is the first step to helping, and believe me, it will go a long way. That's the first thing they teach us when we sign up to be Bigs."

"Bigs?"

"Yeah, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, we're called Big's, and the kids, well, they're Little's. We're given training, its months before we're made active, and we have to take quite a few tests. But believe me, just being there, just having someone that cares goes a long way. It's not what you do or what you say as much as its being there to do it or being there to say it. A lot of times they'll tell you what they really need, you just have to be patient and listen to them." When his friend still wouldn't look him in the eye, Fred shook his head.

"GoGo, you owe him, big time. Is it really that big of a deal for you to try and be there to help him out? Just a little bit?"

"Didn't you say all of us owe him?" she countered.

"Yeah, I did, and as far as I'm concerned this entire city should line up to kiss his ass and be thankful to walk the same ground he does. For now we have to be careful, but at the same time we need to do what we can. You have two classes a day and work part time."

"You're unemployed and loaded."

"Uh, yeah, 'unemployed', I'm the mascot for two college football teams, audit SFIT's finances and exams, head up the local 'Take Back Our Block', chapter leader for San Fransokyo's 'Make Our City Green', and have three Little's to mentor."

"Three? What's normal?" GoGo asked, still trying to use that same angle to help needle her friend.

"One," he replied flatly.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, 'oh', look I don't know what you're problem is or why you are so desperate to not help Hiro, but I hope you won't do what most of these kids parents do and just sit on your thumbs and let someone else take care of them. I'm going to do what I can and try to find out what's going on, whose watching Hiro and why. It might just be they want to know who we are, but there might be more to it."

Reaching across the table and surprising GoGo by taking her hand in his, he continued.

"It's easy, I know, to just ignore someone when they need help. It's easy to excuse yourself and say that you don't have the time, you don't know what to do, or just flat out not care. But I really don't think that's the kind of person you are. You're the anti-heroine, cold, standoffish, and harsh on the outside, but brave, loyal, and caring on the inside."

Pulling her hand from his, GoGo groaned.

"Can't you just take care of this, please?"

Flashing a now full blown goofy grin, Fred shook his head.

"Nope, you're the one that went to see him, you're the one that's already got an in with him, and you're the best one out of us to help him."

Looking up with a confused but wiry glare, GoGo knew she was going to regret this, but she had to know.

"Already has an in with him? The best of us to help him? Mind explaining that a bit better?"

"Well, between the four of us, Wasabi would be...yeah, do we really need to explain why he would be a bad idea? Honey Lemon, honestly I'm worried about, something is wrong but she isn't talking. I've already got my work cut out for me and if it *is* the military or government then I need to be really carefully because of my family."

"And me?"

"You have the most free time, you're the most mentally and emotionally stable, and most importantly, you gave the kid his first girl hug. That kind of thing sticks with guys."

Scoffing, GoGo was an inch away from slapping him.

"Fred! I'm serious, he needs-"

"And I'm serious too. It doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but to him? You were there for him back at the garage, and you were the one who visited him. Those two small acts give you a foothold that none of us have. The girl hug thing, also, true fact, no guy ever forgets their first anything with a girl."

"Oh yeah? Who was your first 'girl hug'?" GoGo asked, mostly mocking but somewhat curious.

"First girl hug? Sandy Miller, sixth grade, I gave her a pink rose for Valentine's Day because I thought she was cute."

Now dumbfounded, she was unprepared for Fred's continued assault.

"Which actually gives you another bonus..." Holding up his hands to form a frame around her in his view, Fred smirked. "A little time with a hot girl brightens up any guy's day; you're a solid eight so-guewf!" Pulling back his foot Fred hissed. "Okay, nine, solid nine, definitely."

"He's a kid Fred."

"He's a teenager GoGo. His head is a mess, but at least if he's focused on and thinking about you, he isn't focused on or thinking about anything bad...well, bad maybe but not negative. I'm not saying you should flirt with him or hit on him, just spend a little time with him. Trust me, when you're alone, just having someone that wants to spend time with you is a huge thing. When it's a pretty girl? It adds a little extra to it, makes you feel better about yourself."

"So...I just what? Sit there and talk to him?"

"Sure, it would be a lot better if you sat there and listened to him though, get him to start talking, open him up a little, and then just let him do the rest." Seeing that she still didn't look convinced, Fred flashed his usual warm and friendly smile. "I get that you're worried, you think you'll screw up and just make things worse for him. But you have to trust me here, just try, you'll be fine. You don't need to be a grief counselor or some kind of shrink to help him, just be his friend."

The deep and heartfelt conversation was interrupted by an alarm buzzing. Fred frowned and checked his phone.

"Whoa! Man I am LATE! I've got to get home and changed for tonight's patrol," bolting up he nearly knocked over GoGo's table in his rush.

"Wait, patrol? What are you talking about?"

"I told you already, Take Back Our Block, it's a neighborhood watch group, and I'm supposed to meet up with the local Guardian Angel's chapter tonight for some talks."

Already at the door, Fred stopped and turn on his heel, grabbed the (now cold) box of ramen from her counter before charging back out the door, chugging said box of noodles like an energy drink he was gone.

Now very much alone with her thoughts, she was no closer to an answer than she had been earlier.

It might seem strange for me to dedicate and honor the memory of someone who not many of you know. But I wish to take a moment to explain why I chose to do so. You see, five years ago I was robbed. Someone broke into my home and stole my laptop, my backup hard drives, and a number of other things. That laptop and those drives contained all of my works, all of my notes, and my archives. Nearly ten gigs of word documents, stories, poems, and art either done by myself or by friends, family or just authors and artist I was a fan of. Many of those people are no longer here today, having died over the course of years, quite a few didn't have internet. This means that quite a few of the works I had on that laptop and those drives were the only copies that existed, they can never be recovered.

So, between loosing over a decade of my own work and my archives, I lost any and all desire to continue working on my stories. That's why you see a rather large gap in my fics, from 2010 to recent months. My character notes, outlines, brainstorming, everything was gone.

Then a little over a year ago, my editor, Kenju, happened to introduce me to Monty Oum's work, to be more specific, RWBY. To anyone who hasn't seen it, the only way I could describe it would be to say, imagine a world that combines the original Brother's Grim fairytales with The Matrix, Bleach, Yugioh and a little bit of Naruto (before it sucked). That's a thumbnail and a gross oversimplification of the series. I strongly recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out and to give it a try.

Monty's love and his passion not only for his work but his fans and fandom was able to stoke the all but dead embers of creativity I had and nurse them back to health over the course of the last year as I came to enjoy the world he created and gave to his fans to play with. He listened to his fans, talked to them, made changes when they voiced their concerns, and even reached out to help a few when he could. That's why after leaving a little run down movie theater two months ago, I decided to once again take up the pen and try my hand at giving the world something to enjoy, even if it's just a small corner that few would ever know.

So, thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that those of you who have come to enjoy my work will continue to do so. I'm still...shaky and haven't quite found my writing legs yet. Even when I was at my peak I was never the most confident of writers, so if I make mistakes please let me know so that I might improve, so that in turn I can give my readers and even better story to enjoy. I also ask that if you have the time, please, take just a moment to write a review, not just here, but to any story you read. Artist can only improve if we know where we need improvement, and just as Monty was fond of commenting, we artist thrive on our fans and their feedback, their praise, or just their thoughts and opinions. There is no greater joy for an artist, be they a painter or a writer, than knowing their fans enjoy and appreciate their work.

Description

AN: While the previous chapters all had humorous little bits for their opening, this one will be different. The chronicles of Stan and Fred will continue in issue #5.

Earlier this month, a young man by the name of Monty Oum passed away. I'm not sure how many, if anyone who reads this recognizes or knows that name, but I wanted to dedicate this chapter to him. By strange coincidence, this chapter does deal with something directly connected to him, not his work, but him as a person. So this week's chapter is being released today instead of Thursday as the previous have been. Chapter five will be released on time next Thursday at minimum, though I might update sooner. Some details will be in the closing AN.

This chapter is being released early in support of the wishes and requests of his friends, family and crew after his passing: As for honoring Monty, we will do that in our own way. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to.

"Keep moving forward." -Monty Oum, 1981-2015

"You want me to what?"

"Just, you know, stop by to see him, check in on him. Is that really a big deal?" GoGo asked as she stirred her (now cold) ramen noodles.

"Normally, no, but this? Uhhh, yes..."

"This? What ish his suppose to mean?" Phone in one hand and chopsticks in the other she frowned.

"We haven't seen each other or even like, talked in weeks, then out of nowhere you call me asking if I'd hang out with Hiro? Yeah, I'd call that strange, well, maybe weird...or at least suspicious."

"What's suspicious about it? I'm just a little worried about him, everything going on and all that. He still hasn't enrolled and we haven't heard from him since Callaghan was taken in. I just mought met, you bow? You mew got along great, goth comic nerds you know?" Setting down her chopsticks she grabbed her (unfortunately now warm) soda.

"Well first of all you're eating, and I happen *know* how much you hate people talking to you or talking to other people when eating cause it makes you nauseous. It's why you made me eat my sneakers last year," Fred fired back with a deadpan voice before continuing "second is this whole thingy...thing itself. I've know you for over a year, and I've never seen you or heard of you asking someone to do anything like that."

"Are you implying that I only care about myself?"

Fred could literally feel her glare across the line.

"N-no, no, nothing like that, in fact I know you care about people. We were all there when you clotheslined that purse snatcher."

"Then what exactly are you trying to imply?" she hissed.

"I'm implying that you're acting an awful lot like you're afraid of something, and like you are hiding something...and I think...no, I know you're lying about something."

"..."

"I'm coming over, we'll talk when I get there."

"What?! No, Fred, don't you dare-"

*Knock knock knock*

Her jaw hit the ground almost as fast as her phone did.

Quickly moving to her door, she checked the peephole to see a grinning Fred waving.

"Okay, that is officially creepy."

Unlocking her door, all but the chain she opened it part way.

"Fred, what on earth are you doing here this late?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Not that Fred could see it as it wasn't the exposed eye.

"I was giving Wasabi a hand when you called...uh...oh uh."

"Fred I need some more light down here. You there man? Fred! FRED!"

"But I'm sure he's okay. You going to let me in or not?" Several moments of silence passed, but neither moved. GoGo was sure that if she waited long enough he would just leave, but as moments turned into minutes, she sighed and closed the door, removed the chain then opened it.

Fred of course was smiling all the same.

"Ohh! Fish and," *sniff* *sniff* "beef? No wait, fish and pork! Man I'm starving you got any more?"

Before GoGo could close the door, let alone answer him he was already going through her cupboards.

"Alllll right! Chicken and dumplings, score! Where did you find this stuff by the way? They haven't made it since forever!"

Mentally, GoGo wondered if she should warn him that the stockpile of instant noodles had been there when she moved in a year and a half ago, but that train of thought was knocked aside by another more pressing one.

"Wh-"

"Now, you've got two minutes to tell me what's really going on here with Hiro."

The typically warm and almost goofy smile was still present, but somehow...different. Something about Fred's eyes had changed. Added to that he wasn't leaning back, slouching or using her table as an ottoman. Under different circumstances she would have been impressed; she didn't even think Fred could behave like this.

"Okay, this I did not expect."

"Look, something's going on, I might not be the most serious guy around, but I'm not a complete idiot. What's got you so worked up that you called me out of the blue?"

Peeling her gum from the table she popped it back into her mouth and started chewing.

*Pop*

"Nothing is up Fred, I just thought he could use a friend. Someone to hang out with. You remember how his face lit up when he saw your room, like a kid in a candy store."

Fred's only response was a raised eyebrow of his own.

"Actually, I didn't know, I was still kinda feeling the rush from that awesome chase and splashdown. Sweet moves by the way, forgot to give you props for saving our butts."

*Pop*

Shrugging her shoulders GoGo was nonplussed.

"That aside, now I'm really curious to find out why you're trying to drop him off on me like this."

Gaping, GoGo froze.

"I'm not trying to drop him off-"

"How is he by the way?"

"Ugh, he's fine, a little down but-"

Fred's grin was met with a familiar *pop*

"Got you lying GoGo," Fred chimed with a knowing grin.

"I can still make you eat your shoes nerd," she threatened, trying to cover her annoyance at getting caught in her lie.

"Come onnnnn GoGo, we're friends, you don't need to try and pull some kind of shell game on me, you know that. I love kids, and I love helping them. So what's up?"

Sighing, GoGo slumped into the seat across from him.

"I...ugh, I hate you, you know that?"

Waving off her scowl, Fred rolled his fingers, telling her to get on with it and stop stalling.

"Friday I stopped by the Lucky Cat to, get something to eat. Purely by coincidence," she defended.

"Oh of course," Fred replied, she could tell he knew she was lying.

"And...when I got there Cass was...off, and asked me to try and talk to him."

Brows furrowed, Fred leaned forward with a slightly worried look. "She asked you to try and talk to him? Not to talk to him?"

*Pop*

"She said...ugh, Fred, look, he's not well. He needs a friend, badly, between his brother and their room and the cops; he's...he's alone okay?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up, roll back, start from the start. You said he needs a friend? Why do you think he needs a friend, specifically?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? He's alone, I mean it, seriously, he's locked himself up in his and his brothers room again because of the police treating him like he's some kind of threat to the city."

"Locked himself up in his and his brother's room again?"

"YES! AGAIN FRED! Like he did last time, when Tadashi died."

"Calm down GoGo, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here. You said he's locked himself in his and his brother's room, again. What room? Do you mean the garage, or they have some kind of hobby room up in the attic?"

Sighing once again, GoGo took a deep breath.

"No, I mean their room, as in bedroom. Hiro and Tadashi shared a room since Cass took them in."

"Really? Wow...that must...man, not much room," Fred thought out loud.

"It's...not that bad actually. The room itself I mean, it was plenty big for two people. The entire third floor is just one room, with a bathroom."

"Not that bad? You mean you saw it? Or Hiro told you about it?"

"I saw it for myself, he was holed up in there and, well I didn't know he was in there, not exactly. Cass just asked me to talk to him but didn't tell me where he was, so I went up the stairs and found him in there. I woke him up and it took awhile just to get him to talk to me, but...Fred? The police know about us...him, they know Hiro was there when we took down Callaghan, they've interrogated him and they've practically taken everything from the room, except the wires they left there."

"Wait, what? Hiro's only a kid, he's fourteen, how could they interrogate a minor?"

"...well, I...don't know, to be honest. I mean I was interrogated when I was sixteen...but they did pull me out of the car I stole at the time, maybe probable cause or something like that?"

Fred shook his head.

"Naw, it doesn't work like that. They can't question a minor unless they are arrested at the scene of a crime...and why would they bug his room?"

GoGo just gave him a deadpan look.

"Right, sorry, you're talking, my bad. Back to Hiro, him and Tadashi shared a room? For all that time?"

"From what I can tell, their place isn't big, but it's not exactly tiny either. I guess it worked for them...but..."

"Now that Tadashi is gone, Hiro's alone and stuck in that room."

GoGo nodded.

"Man, that sucks...poor kid..."

"After the police took everything, it's just...empty now. They left his clothes, and a clock, but that's pretty much it. Him and Cass," "Cass and he," Fred interrupted, but she ignored him, "both told me that cops follow them everywhere they go, and there's at least one sitting in the cafe all day from opening to closing."

Leaning her head down to try and get a better look at her friend, GoGo frowned.

"Something wrong Fred?"

"Yeah...a lot of things actually...this whole thing stinks of a setup."

"Setup?"

"You said they know Hiro was there when we took down Callaghan right?"

"Yeah, because Callaghan told them he took Hiro's microbots. Why?"

"...GoGo, if they know Hiro was there, shouldn't they know the rest of us were there too? Callaghan saw all of us, he knew who we were."

"No, no no no, not like that. Callaghan told them he stole Hiro's microbots, he didn't tell them Hiro was there, or any of us."

"Exactly my point. How did they find out Hiro was there? The only way I could see would be if they searched his room and found something there."

"You mean like his armor?"

"Couldn't have, it's still locked up in my place. It just doesn't make any sense...if Callaghan told them it was us, then we'd all have the cops up our asses, not just Hiro..."

The two were silent for a moment before both looked up.

"Baymax!"

"His gauntlet, Hiro took it with him, they must have found it while searching his room," GoGo started.

"And when they asked him about it he told them what happened," Fred finished.

"But...why are they watching just him like a hawk and not all of us? You know Wasabi would know if anyone bugged his lab station, or was following him."

Once again the room fell silent, until an ear to ear grin split on Fred's face.

"Hiro didn't tell them about us."

"What?"

"Hiro, he told them he was there, what he did, but he didn't tell them squat about us. The kid's got some serious spine if he didn't spill about the rest of us. It would also explain why they're watching him and Cass the way they are." Seeing GoGo's confused face he snickered.

"Really? You don't get it?"

"Get what?"

"GoGo, it's a stake out, they're using Hiro as bait to try and get the rest of us. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a tail now following you wherever you go," Fred pointed out.

In the back of her mind GoGo felt a great deal of pity for whoever had been following her the last few days, if indeed they had been.

"Not like it would be that hard to figure out who we are. All of our projects are open sourced, and plenty of people have seen our demonstrations," GoGo countered.

"Ah! But have you seen any pictures or videos of us at Krei? I seem to recall the reporter saying something about us vanishing without a trace, or something like that. If I was going to bet money on this, I'd say it's the military or the government that's doing this, not the cops. There aren't that many people out there who can get a wire put in someone's house like that, even fewer who can interrogate a minor without parental consent. Nobody saw us out there but us and Callaghan, and I don't see him talking much."

"Might give him a better deal if he did," GoGo muttered.

"Oh yeah, a choice between a cell with a view outside and a cell with a view of a brick wall maybe. Callaghan screwed up, bad, but I don't think he is completely-" Fred stopped cold at the look GoGo was now giving him.

"What I mean is, none of us have had any trouble, so I don't think Hiro or Callaghan have told them anything, and you know the news crews would be having a field day with any footage or pictures of us out there fighting. They're probably waiting for his team to come check on him."

"And I visited him...in broad daylight...crap," GoGo managed before slamming her head onto the table.

"Hey, it's not that bad, they haven't gotten anything on you unless you slipped on that suit of yours since you checked in on him...you...uh, haven't have you?"

"Mo," GoGo muttered, face still plastered against the table. Raising her head she shook it once. "I haven't put that thing on since, well, then."

"Good, that means you can help Hiro."

"Yeah? Wait-what?!"

"GoGo, you've already been tagged, if they've got him under watch like you said; now it's going to look suspicious if you don't hang around him, they'll think he warned you or something and now you're staying away."

"W-well what about you!? If they're following me then they know I called you, talked to you, they know you know they know about this...right?" Pausing, GoGo cringed at what she just said. "Oh god, now you've got me believing your conspiracy theories." Moaning she started massaging her temples.

"Not really. SFIT is privately owned and funded remember? It would be a colossal legal nightmare for them to get any surveillance equipment in here, at least compared to someone's house. And even if they did, I doubt it would last long."

Giving Fred a questioning look, he just started laughing. "Seriously, if someone tried planting a bug or a camera, it wouldn't last an hour. As paranoid as half the nerds here are about their projects, especially after what happened with ESU a few years back, un uh, not happening. Just be careful what you do or say outside...or near any windows..." Fred glanced over her shoulder to see that yes, the windows did indeed have their blinds drawn.

Seeing her pensive look, Fred frowned. "They'll leave you alone after awhile, just do what you normally do, well, and hang out around Hiro a few times a week or so."

"I...don't know about that..." looking down for a moment before turning her attention to Fred, she continued."He's not exactly...Fred, I asked you to hang out with him for a reason. After Tadashi died, he sat in that room for three months, three months Fred."

Crossing his arms, Fred nodded. "Yeah, it took a bad situation and made it worse. Honestly I wish I had known about that at the funeral, I would have gone up there if I did. It's just a constant reminder that he lost his brother. You'd think Cass would have moved him into another room by now."

"I wish it was that simple."

"Hm?"

Sagging, GoGo took another deep breath. "Hiro...isn't just reminded about Tadashi's death being in that room Fred. He...he blames himself for it...and for Callaghan."

"What? Why? That doesn't even make sense...why would he blame himself?"

"Fred, do you know why Hiro applied to come here?"

"Yeah, Tadashi brought him...oh, oh man; you mean he's blaming himself for that? That tanks...but it's not true...well, it is, but...not like that. There was no way he could have known Callaghan was carrying that kind of baggage."

"It's not that, not exactly. He applied because of Callaghan, not Tadashi. Hiro...he looked up to him, idolized him. He thinks that if he never applied, Tadashi and Baymax would still be here, and Callaghan would...well, still be Professor Callaghan." As she explained this she could see Fred's expression shift from curiosity to surprise, then to something else.

Breathing heavily, Fred swept one hand through his hair before giving a heavy exhale.

Several long moments passed before he shook his head.

"Fred, there was no way any of us could have known he was dealing with that," she offered.

"Yeah, there is. If we'd tried talking to him, just stopped by to see him...you know, be an actual friend to him..."

"Except he wasn't our friend then, he was Tadashi's little brother."

The mild glare Fred gave her was short lasting, but she did see it.

"So if you knew about this, why did you ask me to hang out with him? You were there already," he pointed out, giving her a curious look.

"I'm not exactly the comforting type Fred, that's more of Honey Lemon's thing," pausing as his 'look' remained fixed, she buckled. "And I saw you on one of those Big Brother Big Sister fliers...I thought, you know, you would be better with that sort of thing."

While the glare was gone, a rather powerful frown of disappointment was present.

"That's what everyone says GoGo, and it's half the problem."

"Hm?"

"Find someone else to help them, to deal with it, someone who knows what they're doing. That's just an excuse."

"I-that's not true Fred. I just...I don't know what to do with this kind of...that okay? This isn't like helping someone up that scraped their knee, or driving someone that broke a bone to the hospital. Hiro's messed up, seriously, and majorly messed up, and he's been bottled up in that room for three months like a pressure cooker."

"He's a kid GoGo, not a time bomb."

"Really? Could have fooled me after what he did at the bunker," she fired back.

Narrowing his eyes, but frown still in place, Fred shook his head in disbelief. "Are you actually...afraid of Hiro?"

The image of Baymax looming over her, fist raised and red eyes blazing flashed across her memory.

"Not...exactly...of him, just what he might do."

"That's the same thing; you can't just start thinking like that. He's one of the good guys remember? He proved that, he's still proving it now. He's sitting by himself, in that room, blaming himself for his brother's death and what Callaghan did, all for us. I don't know if I could do that if I was in his shoes."

When he saw that his point had completely missed the mark he knew he'd have to explain it to her.

"After what happened at the exhibition hall, what did we do for him? We sent him an E-card GoGo, one E-card, that's it, until Baymax called us and asked us to help him at the docks. And since then, we haven't exactly given him any reasons to protect us."

"Can't you just...Big Brother him?"

Another disappointed sigh, another head shake. "Un-believable, you're really that afraid of him?"

"I'm NOT afraid of him Fred, I just...look, we know that Hiro, is capable of things that are dangerous. It takes certain triggers, but it can happen. Do you really think it's a good idea for anyone that doesn't know what they are doing to try and help him? Me of all people especially? I'm not supportive, and I'm certainly not maternal, period. Hiro needs help, from someone that can help him."

"What he needs, is someone to care, and to try. Even if you mess up, just being there is the first step to helping, and believe me, it will go a long way. That's the first thing they teach us when we sign up to be Bigs."

"Bigs?"

"Yeah, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, we're called Big's, and the kids, well, they're Little's. We're given training, its months before we're made active, and we have to take quite a few tests. But believe me, just being there, just having someone that cares goes a long way. It's not what you do or what you say as much as its being there to do it or being there to say it. A lot of times they'll tell you what they really need, you just have to be patient and listen to them." When his friend still wouldn't look him in the eye, Fred shook his head.

"GoGo, you owe him, big time. Is it really that big of a deal for you to try and be there to help him out? Just a little bit?"

"Didn't you say all of us owe him?" she countered.

"Yeah, I did, and as far as I'm concerned this entire city should line up to kiss his ass and be thankful to walk the same ground he does. For now we have to be careful, but at the same time we need to do what we can. You have two classes a day and work part time."

"You're unemployed and loaded."

"Uh, yeah, 'unemployed', I'm the mascot for two college football teams, audit SFIT's finances and exams, head up the local 'Take Back Our Block', chapter leader for San Fransokyo's 'Make Our City Green', and have three Little's to mentor."

"Three? What's normal?" GoGo asked, still trying to use that same angle to help needle her friend.

"One," he replied flatly.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, 'oh', look I don't know what you're problem is or why you are so desperate to not help Hiro, but I hope you won't do what most of these kids parents do and just sit on your thumbs and let someone else take care of them. I'm going to do what I can and try to find out what's going on, whose watching Hiro and why. It might just be they want to know who we are, but there might be more to it."

Reaching across the table and surprising GoGo by taking her hand in his, he continued.

"It's easy, I know, to just ignore someone when they need help. It's easy to excuse yourself and say that you don't have the time, you don't know what to do, or just flat out not care. But I really don't think that's the kind of person you are. You're the anti-heroine, cold, standoffish, and harsh on the outside, but brave, loyal, and caring on the inside."

Pulling her hand from his, GoGo groaned.

"Can't you just take care of this, please?"

Flashing a now full blown goofy grin, Fred shook his head.

"Nope, you're the one that went to see him, you're the one that's already got an in with him, and you're the best one out of us to help him."

Looking up with a confused but wiry glare, GoGo knew she was going to regret this, but she had to know.

"Already has an in with him? The best of us to help him? Mind explaining that a bit better?"

"Well, between the four of us, Wasabi would be...yeah, do we really need to explain why he would be a bad idea? Honey Lemon, honestly I'm worried about, something is wrong but she isn't talking. I've already got my work cut out for me and if it *is* the military or government then I need to be really carefully because of my family."

"And me?"

"You have the most free time, you're the most mentally and emotionally stable, and most importantly, you gave the kid his first girl hug. That kind of thing sticks with guys."

Scoffing, GoGo was an inch away from slapping him.

"Fred! I'm serious, he needs-"

"And I'm serious too. It doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but to him? You were there for him back at the garage, and you were the one who visited him. Those two small acts give you a foothold that none of us have. The girl hug thing, also, true fact, no guy ever forgets their first anything with a girl."

"Oh yeah? Who was your first 'girl hug'?" GoGo asked, mostly mocking but somewhat curious.

"First girl hug? Sandy Miller, sixth grade, I gave her a pink rose for Valentine's Day because I thought she was cute."

Now dumbfounded, she was unprepared for Fred's continued assault.

"Which actually gives you another bonus..." Holding up his hands to form a frame around her in his view, Fred smirked. "A little time with a hot girl brightens up any guy's day; you're a solid eight so-guewf!" Pulling back his foot Fred hissed. "Okay, nine, solid nine, definitely."

"He's a kid Fred."

"He's a teenager GoGo. His head is a mess, but at least if he's focused on and thinking about you, he isn't focused on or thinking about anything bad...well, bad maybe but not negative. I'm not saying you should flirt with him or hit on him, just spend a little time with him. Trust me, when you're alone, just having someone that wants to spend time with you is a huge thing. When it's a pretty girl? It adds a little extra to it, makes you feel better about yourself."

"So...I just what? Sit there and talk to him?"

"Sure, it would be a lot better if you sat there and listened to him though, get him to start talking, open him up a little, and then just let him do the rest." Seeing that she still didn't look convinced, Fred flashed his usual warm and friendly smile. "I get that you're worried, you think you'll screw up and just make things worse for him. But you have to trust me here, just try, you'll be fine. You don't need to be a grief counselor or some kind of shrink to help him, just be his friend."

The deep and heartfelt conversation was interrupted by an alarm buzzing. Fred frowned and checked his phone.

"Whoa! Man I am LATE! I've got to get home and changed for tonight's patrol," bolting up he nearly knocked over GoGo's table in his rush.

"Wait, patrol? What are you talking about?"

"I told you already, Take Back Our Block, it's a neighborhood watch group, and I'm supposed to meet up with the local Guardian Angel's chapter tonight for some talks."

Already at the door, Fred stopped and turn on his heel, grabbed the (now cold) box of ramen from her counter before charging back out the door, chugging said box of noodles like an energy drink he was gone.

Now very much alone with her thoughts, she was no closer to an answer than she had been earlier.

It might seem strange for me to dedicate and honor the memory of someone who not many of you know. But I wish to take a moment to explain why I chose to do so. You see, five years ago I was robbed. Someone broke into my home and stole my laptop, my backup hard drives, and a number of other things. That laptop and those drives contained all of my works, all of my notes, and my archives. Nearly ten gigs of word documents, stories, poems, and art either done by myself or by friends, family or just authors and artist I was a fan of. Many of those people are no longer here today, having died over the course of years, quite a few didn't have internet. This means that quite a few of the works I had on that laptop and those drives were the only copies that existed, they can never be recovered.

So, between loosing over a decade of my own work and my archives, I lost any and all desire to continue working on my stories. That's why you see a rather large gap in my fics, from 2010 to recent months. My character notes, outlines, brainstorming, everything was gone.

Then a little over a year ago, my editor, Kenju, happened to introduce me to Monty Oum's work, to be more specific, RWBY. To anyone who hasn't seen it, the only way I could describe it would be to say, imagine a world that combines the original Brother's Grim fairytales with The Matrix, Bleach, Yugioh and a little bit of Naruto (before it sucked). That's a thumbnail and a gross oversimplification of the series. I strongly recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out and to give it a try.

Monty's love and his passion not only for his work but his fans and fandom was able to stoke the all but dead embers of creativity I had and nurse them back to health over the course of the last year as I came to enjoy the world he created and gave to his fans to play with. He listened to his fans, talked to them, made changes when they voiced their concerns, and even reached out to help a few when he could. That's why after leaving a little run down movie theater two months ago, I decided to once again take up the pen and try my hand at giving the world something to enjoy, even if it's just a small corner that few would ever know.

So, thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that those of you who have come to enjoy my work will continue to do so. I'm still...shaky and haven't quite found my writing legs yet. Even when I was at my peak I was never the most confident of writers, so if I make mistakes please let me know so that I might improve, so that in turn I can give my readers and even better story to enjoy. I also ask that if you have the time, please, take just a moment to write a review, not just here, but to any story you read. Artist can only improve if we know where we need improvement, and just as Monty was fond of commenting, we artist thrive on our fans and their feedback, their praise, or just their thoughts and opinions. There is no greater joy for an artist, be they a painter or a writer, than knowing their fans enjoy and appreciate their work.