The crowd was cheering, the enthusiastic claps and hollers could be heard from outside the building. Hiro Hamada's microbots were the most amazing thing anyone there had seen in their lives, and were making it very clear. And at the center of this commotion, being the loudest and most intense was his family; one part the older, smaller one and one part new one that he had managed to make over the past weeks working on his project.

When his presentation ended, he stepped down from the podium. The entire gang rushed forward, with Tadashi at the front to congratulate his little brother, excitedly fist bumping and cheering.

"Hiro that was fantastic!" gushed Honey Lemon.

"Good job little dude," Wasabi, being congratulatory and polite as ever.

"That was the SICKEST thing I have ever seen!" said Fred, shaking with excitement.

And GoGo, well, she just gave a light punch to the arm. All paired with a smirk and a "good one kiddo."

"Ow. But thanks," winced Hiro, rubbing his arm. GoGo rolled her eyes as if to say, Oh come on, it wasn't THAT hard.

The group continued chattering and gushing about Hiro as she decided to hang back and observe a bit, as she was prone to do. Sure, she was proud and happy for him, but what really what made her happy was seeing all her friends this excited. For weeks they had been rallying together, helping out, spending time together. While she would never admit it aloud, she was glad that she could have that time to spend with her friends, seeing them with this light in their eyes, the kind that only happens when you care deeply about something.

Speaking of light, she also couldn't help but notice Tadashi-he was absolutely beaming. Talking excitedly to Hiro, while the younger sheepishly grinned. GoGo smirked internally; it was no secret how much Tadashi cared for his little brother. Obviously, it made sense, considering how small their family was. Though she really did sometimes think he got overly involved, too over-protective. How many nights had he bailed on hanging out because he had to chase after Hiro in a bot fight? How many times had he complained about his wasted potential? Honestly, GoGo was of the mindset that if he really had wanted his little brother to grow up, he would have had to let him be on his own sometimes. Let him make mistakes and pay for the consequences, whether it be getting arrested or beat up in a fight. Give him a couple times of not being saved, and then maybe he would finally learn he wasn't invincible.

But getting to know the big brother, she knew he could never do that. He was too empathetic, and his heart was always on his sleeve, ready to care about every little problem any person had, especially those belonging to people he cared about. Hell, his final project was going to be a robotic nurse, because he wanted to help people. GoGo remembered when she first heard about it-how selfless can a guy be? Everyone else's projects, including her own, were just things they liked and thought were cool. They had the access to the technology, so why not? And there was Tadashi Hamada, working day in and day out, coding, reading up on medical procedures, to create a lovable creature that could help anyone.

She even asked him about it one day-what about you? Isn't there something you really wanted to do in your work?

He had stared at her blankly for a moment, before smiling and shrugging. "I just want to help people. Make them feel less alone in their scary moments."

She was now the one to be caught off guard-it was late at the lab, and the two were taking a well-deserved coffee break. Well, technically Tadashi was drinking tea and she was having a RedBull, but same difference right?

She tried to shrug off the weird, sharp pang in her chest his statement had given her (was it sympathy? Pity? The RedBull? Ew, woman up GoGo).

"Ugh, obviously Mr. Prince Charming. Your martyr complex knows no bounds." She said, blowing a bubble of her gum.

However, she realized she might have sounded too harsh when she noticed the look on Tadashi's face, a mix of surprise and hurt. She uncomfortably popped her bubble and brought it back inside her mouth, pressing it to her cheek and prepared herself to speak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just—"

"No, it's okay," he assured her. He took off his hat and looked down at it in his hands. "You might be right. And maybe I'm like this because of my parents, or my brother or maybe I was born like this. And I know I don't take the best care of myself all the time or come off as over protective as a result. But I guess I just really like to see other people happy and safe. I know what it's like to feel…the opposite of that and I don't wish that on anybody."

And then, despite the bags under his eyes and his hat-hair, he smiled that lovely gentle smile of his at her. "Now is that so wrong?"

Again, she felt that pang in her chest. Here was a guy, who had gone through the unthinkable at a young age, took care of his brother, busted his ass to get into university, and yet he still smiled like he was the luckiest guy in the world. GoGo had her hardships too, but not as many as he had. Yet, she was being the bitter one.

"N-no." she finally managed. "It's great what you're trying to do. It really is. It's going to help so many people, and it will all be thanks to you."

Tadashi gave a breathy chuckle, mumbling "aw shucks" before going back to his tea. The silence as the two drank their caffeinated beverages was no longer tense and both were grateful for it.

GoGo hardly ever thought of helping most people-sure, she'd be loyal for the people she managed to have in her inner circle, and she wouldn't necessarily pass by an innocent person who could use a hand (give an elderly person a ride, buy a meal for a homeless person, help a lost little kid find their parents in the mall etc.) But everybody else? She figured those people could help themselves, or that they didn't really deserve help because most people were assholes. But looking at Tadashi, this kid whom the world gave nothing but hell at a young age, and just thought about what he could give back to it, well, she wanted to believe that most people were worth helping too.

This memory was quickly playing through her head when she noticed Tadashi glance at her. She realized that during her reverie, she had been staring. But she sure as hell wasn't going to allow herself to be embarrassed about it, so she smirked at him and mouthed "Congrats" to him. He smiled at her and winked.

The pang in her chest came back with a vengeance, threatening to double her over. Luckily, no one noticed her sudden stiffness what with industrialist Alistair Krei suddenly coming over to talk to Hiro…

"Wow, I still can't believe you turned down Krei," remarked Wasabi.

"Yeah, you could be LOADED right now!" exclaimed Fred. "A boy genius billionaire by day, and by night you use your wealth and smarts to protect the city and go only by the mysterious name—"

"Hey, what I really wanted was to get into this school and I did." said Hiro. "No amount of money beats that." He waved around his acceptance letter again, practically clutching onto it as if it were made of precious materials.

The gang cheered and Aunt Cass exclaimed dinner would be her treat. They all began to follow her excitedly towards the promise of free food.

"Um, hey. We'll catch up to you later, alright?" said Tadashi, glancing at Hiro who seemed surprised at first but then smiled back at him.

GoGo wondered that was like, to have that kind of bond where you have deep talks and exchanges with only looks. There was nothing like that in her family for sure. She always felt like she was going too fast to figure out what people were trying to say. Mostly because she didn't care about their thoughts. A little bit because she was worried they wouldn't care about hers.

There was a quick goodbye, with Aunt Cass saying they better not take too long if they didn't want to miss the food (and considering Fred's appetite, the supply possibly not being enough would be a legitimate concern). With a hum of agreement the pair of brothers walked away, Tadashi turned back and his eyes fell on GoGo. He gave a slight wave before continuing on.

Pang.

Ugh, stupid chest. Stupid Tadashi. She chose not to dwell on it and catch up with the rest of her friends.

They were halfway to the parking lot when GoGo realized she didn't have her key for her bike. Shit. Sure, her bike was state of the art, and the lock was this highly advanced one that would shock the perpetrator is they tried to cut it or pick at it or rewire it. It couldn't easily be stolen-she had designed it that way.

But it still needed a key.

"I got to go back. I must have dropped it somewhere." Maybe because you were distracted by Tadashi a little voice inside her head cooed, almost too sweetly. She punched it in the face all the way back down.

GoGo liked to imagine that she could do that with her unwanted feelings or thoughts, just punch them away.

There were calls for her to come back, offers to drive, saying she could come get it tomorrow, but she was already waving them off as she headed back to the building where the showcase had been, scanning the ground. Sure, her main bike wasn't the speedy one with the zero-gravity wheels, but it was still pretty damn fast and she'd be damned if she was going to leave it overnight on a college campus.

She had been so busy looking at the ground, she didn't notice something was wrong until she heard shouts and screams from a bit in front of her. People were running past her, so she ran towards where they were coming from (hey, sometimes you gotta follow the excitement). It wasn't long before she was in front of the building on fire, blazing up like an inferno against the night sky.

Shit, this is bad. All the experiments that people worked so hard on, destroyed. And was everybody out? She quickly looked around, trying to assess what kind of damage, to see if she knew anybody.

And a ways off, maybe 50 yards away were the Hamada brothers, who were with a girl pointing to the building. She then noticed Hiro holding on to Tadashi, who appeared to be saying something.

He then began to move away.

Now, GoGo had always been fast: a fast runner, a fast cyclist, fast driver, anything that moved her from point A to be B in as little time as possible. She liked to feel the wind against her face, the rev of an engine, her heart pumping against her chest, her adrenaline surging through her.

But never in life had she moved faster when she chased after Tadashi. It wasn't even a conscious choice, and her body practically moved on its own, as if it knew before she did that she had to stop him, because point B had suddenly become so, so important.

She reached him on the stairs, and tackled him hard. It wasn't graceful, and they took a bit of tumble down to the hard cement, their bodies hitting with a thud.

"GoGo?" he said, trying to sit up despite her weight on him, his bruised elbows and skull that had grazed the pavement. "GoGo get off! Professor Callaghan is in there and I got to—"

He was cut off by the explosion, and from the force and noise, both of them blacked out.

GoGo came to first, Hiro crouched over them and calling out to them.

"GoGo! Are you ok?!" he was practically screaming in her face.

"Hiro, please," she said, rubbing her ears. Damn, that ringing was loud.

Both noticed that she was still on Tadashi.

"Tadashi? Wake up? Come on dude," she said, tapping his face lightly and moving off him, lest she was blocking his air supply. Kneeling, she studied his face, some ashes had gotten on them, but surely he was fine? He had to be fine.

Oh please if there is a god let him be fine.

Hiro was on the verge of tears, now yelling his brother's name.

The scene and what it could mean was too much to bear for GoGo.

"Tadashi get up!" and she slapped his chest.

And with that, he awoke with a jolt, coughing first and then groaning.

"Ugh my head…"

"Tadashi! You're ok!" Hiro grabbed his brother into a hug, trembling at the near loss. GoGo tried to steady herself to stand up.

"Hiro, oh my god, I'm here, it's ok. Everything is ok. Are you ok?" Tadashi asked, with Hiro violently nodding. GoGo had to resist the slight urge to roll her eyes again. Looks at his brother before himself. Typical. Not that she could really blame them, she supposed.

"Wait…" Tadashi said, the other two following his gaze going to the building behind them.

He quickly tried to stand up. "Callaghan might still be in there! Someone—"

GoGo placed a firm hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit back down. "Oh no you don't. I didn't just save your ass so you could run into the burning building AGAIN."

Tadashi blinked at her, the realization slowly dawning. "You-you did save me. So, that actually happened?"

"It did," Hiro said quietly. "She got to you before the building exploded. I had no idea where she even came from but if she hadn't, I-I-I-" he began to stutter, the tears threatening to leak

Tadashi put his arms back around him. "Shh it's alright. I'm here," holding his brother close. . GoGo's heart softened at the sight-she never pegged Hiro as a crier, but Tadashi must have meant that much for him to be reduced like this.

And how much does he mean to you? Said the cooing voice again. She tried to shake it away. Now was not the time. The trio stayed there quietly for a moment, GoGo standing and the two hugging on the ground, hearing the distant whirring for the fire engines and ambulances.

Yet, he looked back the building.

"I just wanted to help Professor Callaghan," he said softly.

She had wanted to be calm-there was no need to be hysterical with so many other people around, right? She wanted to appear strong and confident; like she always did, but especially now.

But something ugly and red inside GoGo snapped.

" 'Wanting to help' almost just got you killed!" she spat. The brothers looked up at her in surprise at her outburst.

"What the fuck where you thinking? Who the fuck goes into building when it's like that?" As expletive filled her vocabulary could be, she only reserved the F-word for when she was super pissed.

Tadashi stood up shakily to meet her. "GoGo I was just trying to do the right thing and I didn't think—"

She started to scream. "You didn't think?! Didn't think about leaving your brother and aunt behind? Didn't think about your friends?"

About me?

"GoGo please, I-"

She got up real close to his face and pushed her pointer finger to his chest, pressing in hard. "News flash Tadashi," she was practically hissing. "Being the fucking hero doesn't mean shit if it means fucking up the people who love you."

He looked as if she had slapped him, but the sad eyes weren't going to work on her this time. She stood her ground, locking him in an angry stare. He tried to match her intensity, his mouth becoming a tight line and his hands clenching into fists.

The two stood like that for a moment, with Hiro just glancing between them. If it would have almost been amusing, to see the rather short GoGo trying to face off with the taller Tadashi, and really managing to be far more intimidating. Amusing if there wasn't a burning building in the background that could have killed them all.

But Tadashi broke down first, loosening his fists and sighing.

And of all things, he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry GoGo. I didn't mean to worry you like that." He brought his hands up to her hair, cradling her head and pulling her close.

Her eyes widened in shock-whenever she had cursed people off in the past, their usual response wasn't to hug her. Even if that's what she wanted or needed, but was trying to hide her hurt and frustration. She knew it made her seem childish, lashing out because you were hurt, but she was only human. Yet, here was someone who finally recognized that, someone who could always see what she really meant to say. Her arms found their way across his back, and she scrunched her eyes tight against his chest, so she wouldn't cry.

"Really though," he said, slowly pulling back and looking into her face. "Thank you for saving me. I owe you my life."

Pang.

Pang.

Pang.

This was too much-all her feelings were jumbled up (anger, concern, sadness), her ears still ringing, her knees scraped, Hiro right there staring confusedly and worriedly at them. She quickly pulled away.

"Just-just don't do anything that stupid again," she huffed, crossing her arms.

Tadashi looked like he was going to say something more, but by then, Aunt Cass and the gang had spotted them, as well people from the ambulances, asking if they had any injuries.

Through the ride to the hospital and there, the two ended up not talking for the rest of the night. Every time Tadashi glanced over at GoGo, she just looked away.