Author's Notes: Sorry, my friends, about my slowness. No worries, I won't abandon you! It's just that the pace of conventions has picked up so much my life looks like this, measured in weekends: Anime St. Louis (9 hour drive), ACEN (5 hour drive), May 1-11th, restocking trip to Japan... then after that Animazement, Collossalcon, Connecticon, Anime Expo (hahaha 24 hour drive to Los Angeles), Japan again, Otakon... hahaha, it just never seems to end. XD

There are 3-4 chapters remaining, but you know how I can get wordy...

XOXOXOX

~K

Overnight, the blizzard blankets the city in a heavy layer of white, slowing and stalling the normally rapid rhythm to a near standstill. Kotetsu's call band goes off at eight in the morning only to tell them that nearly everything in the city is shut down or post-phoned, including his photoshoot for the magazine article about the gala, and he's only too happy to sink back into the warmth of the bed.

With the flip of a button, the growing sunrise fades out into darkness and Barnaby reaches to grab Kotetsu's arm, his voice raspy with sleep. "I'm not meeting with Saito until this afternoon." He isn't ready to let go of this moment yet and the snow has given him the perfect excuse to stay right where he is.

Kotetsu doesn't even need the excuse, and he drags Barnaby into his arms, letting the blond pillow his head on a shoulder, content to sleep until noon. It's too damn cold outside to do anything else.

o/~
There's a place that I know
It's not pretty there and few have ever gone
If I show it to you now
Will it make you run away?
Or will you stay even if it hurts?
~/o

A car arrives just after noon to take them to Apollon Media, where Barnaby has an appointment with Saito and Kotetsu is meeting Ben with plans to go for a late lunch.

They are both quiet on the way, lost in thought, and Kotetsu wishes he could reach out and take Barnaby's hand as they walk through the lobby of the familiar building. He can tell that his partner is tense, and he prods the blond about it once they get upstairs. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay, Bunny? We can always…"

"Kotetsu, it's fine," Barnaby gives him a tight half-smile as they stand outside the lab together and then reaches to touch his hand lightly. He isn't quite certain if he's trying to reassure his partner or himself.

"If you change your mind…" Kotetsu really wants to lean in and give Barnaby a kiss goodbye, but they are technically still in public, so he settles for turning Barnaby's hand over into his own so he can squeeze it.

Barnaby nods and squeezes back, then disappears through the door.

Inside the lab, Saito is sitting in front of a monitor, typing away, but he turns when Barnaby enters and greets him at a volume that's nearly impossible to hear, even in the quiet room.

After a year of working together, though, Barnaby finds he's gotten used to it. "I'm doing quite well, Saito, thank you, Barnaby replies, following the shorter man quite closely when he rises and shuffles towards his office, explaining along the way. "And how are you?"

"As well as always. So, tell me, you haven't figured out what the meaning of that sequence of numbers is?"

"No, I haven't…" Truthfully, he hasn't even looked at the paper since the day Saito gave it to him, but he'd memorized the string of numbers - 110472810313329 – despite the fact that they mean nothing to him. "Did you…?"

"I would have said so if I had," Saito eyes Barnaby curiously. He's rather glad that Kaburagi has taken care of him – well, more so, that they've taken care of each other. Barnaby looks far more rested than he has in months, but also intensely… uncomfortable? "Did you think this meeting was about something else?" Saito finally asks him in curiosity.

"I was… expecting that today might be about you trying to convince me to work for Apollon in a different manner…" Barnaby confesses awkwardly, glancing away. "And it's not that I wish to offend you, but…"

Saito's face splits into a smile and he pats Barnaby's arm, leaning closer to make certain he's heard. "Not that this research couldn't benefit from your involvement, but… no, that's not at all the reason I asked you to meet with me."

"Oh?" Barnaby tries to take the statement as a compliment, but his mind is already spinning off into other possibilities, and he prompts Saito again, less awkward now. "Then… why have you asked me here?"

"Well, I had to hack the programming just to find that password," Saito begins to explain again as he sits down at his desk and clicks a few buttons, bringing up a rolling sequence of gibberish on the screen.

"To engage the safety mode, " Barnaby nods, trying to be patient with the explanation even as he feels anxiety rising in his chest. Saito's work had saved all of their lives that day, and they were lucky to have had someone on their side who knew the robotics coding so intricately. Barnaby feels a little bit of guilt creep up for not knowing more about his parents' work than what he's learned simply because of the suits. Without Maverick's guidance, would I have made different choices? Suddenly realizing that he's missing Saito's explanation, Barnaby shakes off the thoughts and leans in to watch the screen.

"As I continued looking into how the safety mode was turned off, actually, modified in the first place, I came upon a further discrepancy in the file – a pattern." Saito points to the screen, which has now begun high-lighting certain numbers in red.

Barnaby doesn't know enough about this particular code to know why these numbers are red, but he trusts Saito's opinion on the subject. It's hard not to, when he's already entrusted his life to the man in the form of their suits. "However you managed this, it must have led to something substantial-"

"A set of files, buried very deep in the programming, meant to be found only if the safety mode was engaged."

"If a human life is endangered…" Barnaby murmurs as he watches Saito click from the code over to a window with the retrieved files. A video screen pulls up and the suit engineer hovers over the play button for a moment, considering deeply before he turns to look up at Barnaby.

"They could only have been placed there by someone involved with the original programming, and thus I thought it would be best to let you have a look at them first." Saito stands up and gestures for Barnaby to take his seat, then takes a step back.

Barnaby knows, somewhere in his mind, exactly what that statement must mean, but he can't seem to believe it. This is so far from anything he was expecting when he agreed to come here today, and his heart is already beginning to race in anticipation. Barely aware that Saito has left him alone in the room, he reaches to start the video, glancing to see the dozens of files in the accompanying folder.

The video starts and the screen wobbles for a moment as the angle is adjusted, and then, quite suddenly, Barnaby finds himself looking into his father's eyes.

Choking on his next breath, he fumbles to pause the video, his hands shaking violently. He's not even thinking as he slaps down on his call bracelet, his heartbeat pounding in his ears, reaching desperately for his anchor. "Ko… Kotetsu…"

o/~
Like a diamond
From black dust
It's hard to know
What can become
If you give up
So don't give up on me
Please remind me who I really am
~/o

"Still driving around in that taxi?" Kotetsu jokes when he meets Ben out in front of the building. He's been looking forward to this meeting, even if he hasn't quite been able to get his mind off of Barnaby, and Saito's vague letter.

"Hey, no complaints," Ben teasingly lectures back, giving Kotetsu a huge hug. "This taxi saved your ass, delivered your suit..." Ben is happy to see his old friend, and especially to see him looking so well, like he hasn't in years, really, despite everything that's happened.

"And a cold hot dog!" Kotetsu grins as he hugs back, then pats the roof of the car, but before he can attempt another witty remark, his call bracelet chirps.

"Ko… Kotetsu…" Barnaby's voice is choked up, and the video feed is turned off.

"Bunny?" Kotetsu asks immediately in concern, straightening up and shrugging when Ben gives him a questioning look. "Something wrong?"

There's a long hesitation before Barnaby's voice answers. "I… changed my mind… please…"

Kotetsu frowns, already walking back towards the building entrance with an apologetic wave back at Ben. "It's okay, I'll be right there…"

Barnaby doesn't answer and the call cuts off, worrying Kotetsu further, and the elevator ride back up to Saito's office feels so long he wonders if climbing the building Godzilla-style might not get him there faster.

Saito doesn't seem all that surprised to see Kotetsu and points towards his office door, which only confuses Kotetsu more. Pushing open the door, he finds his partner sitting rigid in a chair, staring blankly at a screen that he can't make out from this angle.

Barnaby's pale skin has gone so white that he looks ashy, and Kotetsu sits down in another chair beside him in a hurry, reaching to take a cold and shaking hand between his own two. "Bunny? What's going on?"

"I… decided I needed you here…" Barnaby says more evenly than he had on the phone, but his eyes are still fixed on the screen and he's obviously upset.

"It's no problem at all…" Kotetsu says slowly as he finally follows Barnaby's gaze to the frozen video image on the screen. He can't help but do a double-take, and ask dumbly before even thinking about it. "That's your father, isn't it?"

Barnaby already feels calmer with Kotetsu at his side and he nods, turning to his partner to explain. "I haven't watched it yet, but there's… a set of files… Saito found…"

Kotetsu reaches up to run a hand over Barnaby's curls, then squeezes his shoulder comfortingly. "Then let's watch it together."

Taking a shaky breath, Barnaby lets his fingers intertwine with his partner's and then reaches with his other hand to unpause the video. Now that he's over the initial shock, he realizes that he recognizes the background very vaguely as his father's office.

"If you've retrieved this file, it's because you studied the output when the safety mode was activated - technically, hacked - which, I can only assume, is because Emily and I aren't present anymore."

Barnaby Sr. sits back, as if the idea of that has truly just struck him for the first time. There's a distinct pause before he shakes himself in a very familiar way and continues with what is obviously a somewhat-rehearsed speech.

"It's recently come to my attention that our research is being used for sinister and malicious projects. Perhaps it's my own fault for being too naïve or too trusting, but… I really wanted to see the Hero TV project succeed. I still do. I still think there's a lot of merit in trying to change the public's opinion about NEXT. However, the way things have ended up… it's not right.

This video is a failsafe. Emily assumes we can confront Albert, find out where and how he went wrong, and put an end to this mess before any more lives are endangered." Barnaby Sr. pauses, frowning and glancing away in such a familiar way that it seems eerie to Kotetsu, who's seen this expression on his partner's face more than once. "But… I have my doubts. Even if we can convince him to see reason, to come clean, some of our work is already out there in the hands of criminals, and I fear that it's only a matter of time before it's further misused.

This scheme, this deception… it goes far deeper than I've even been able to uncover. This Ouroboros is a dangerous group indeed, and I don't know how far into it Albert really is. I don't know what kind of technology he's given to Ouroboros, but to pull off some of these elaborate crimes, it must be a great deal."

Barnaby tenses at the mention of Ouroboros, and Kotetsu leans a little closer to the screen, surprised to find out how much Barnaby's father had known before the tragic events.

"I'm leaving lists of our contacts and colleagues at all stages of the robotics project, including our foreign collaborators. I'm also encrypting a file with all of the information I've collected in regards to Ouroboros. If the safety mode had to be engaged, then something isn't right and someone out there must realize it. I can only hope that whoever finds this file feels as strongly as Emily and I do about using robotics for protecting the population, and not as weapons. To think that someone we've trusted for years would use our work in such a way…"

Barnaby Sr. stops mid-sentence as the door swings open behind him, and a clattering of footsteps interrupts the video. A high-pitched voice echoes just loudly enough to be picked up by the camera, and Barnaby Sr. leans down to lift a child onto his lap. "Father!"

Even if Kotetsu hadn't seen the newspaper clipping of the family in Barnaby's files, with the bright green eyes and the slightly curling blond hair, it's still immediately obvious who it is. Beside him, Barnaby flinches in surprise, but can't bear to look away from the accidentally caught exchange, his garbled memory flickering to life.

"Have you a message for me?"

A grin splits little Barnaby's face as he nods excitedly. "Mother says we're leaving shortly for the ballet, so you ought to hurry."

I remember this night… the Nutcracker… and her red dress with the pearls…

Barnaby is entranced by the video, lost in the memory as he watches Emily enter the room behind them, swishing over with an armful of coats. "Mother…" he murmurs along with his child self's call.

"Come now, didn't I tell you not to interrupt your father?" she smiles, lifting him off of his father's lap before leaning down to kiss her husband's cheek. Setting Barnaby on the floor, she helps him into his jacket, humming the tune to Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Sugar Plum Fairies and very much unaware that she's on camera.

"I just have something to finish up and I'll meet you both at the door," Barnaby Sr. smiles warmly up at his wife as he ruffles his son's hair in an affectionate way.

"Don't be long," Emily leaves her husband's coat across the back of his chair and takes her son's hand, amused when he mimics her as they reach the door.

"Don't be long, really - the car's already outside waiting for us!" Barnaby calls back excitedly before the door closes behind them.

Barnaby Sr. seems to have forgotten that the video is running, and it's a long moment before he seems to recall what he was doing before his family's interruption. "I'm going to put an end to this, one way or another," he finally tells the camera with steely determination in his eyes. "I'm going to confront Albert tomorrow while Samantha has Barnaby and tell him that I know the truth. If the public knew what was going on behind Hero TV… well, then what little tolerance there is for NEXT would evaporate immediately. I can't allow that to happen."

The video feed cuts off abruptly, leaving the screen black, and Kotetsu finds that he's staring ahead the same as his partner, teary-eyed if not quite as shell-shocked. His heart aches for his own family in that moment, Kaede and Tomoe, his mother and brother, and for a moment, he's grateful to know he'll be with his daughter again soon. But Bunny…

Being given this information, this glimpse into the past… seeing his parents again, seeing himself with them… it's too overwhelming for Barnaby to even process properly. Pulling his hand away from Kotetsu's, he stands abruptly, adjusting his glasses with a shaking hand.

"Bunny?" Kotetsu asks, rubbing away a stray tear and rising with him. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? Barnaby tries to search himself for the answer, but all he comes up with is a great big blank and a tight feeling in his chest. I don't want to be here. "I'm… fine…" he starts in a practiced monotone, turning to head for the door. "I want to go now."

"Go? Go where?" Kotetsu trails after his partner, pausing awkwardly to glance around the lab, but Saito is nowhere to be found. "Hey, Bunny, talk to me."

"Somewhere else…" Barnaby says sharply, walking quickly through the corridor, his heart feeling unnaturally leaden even as it's begun pounding. "Just not here, I can't… I need to get outside… go home…"

"Home?" Kotetsu follows his partner as he bypasses the elevator and heads, instead, for the little used stairwell in the skyscraper, more than a little worried. He hasn't seen this kind of behavior out of Barnaby in quite awhile, and it unnerves him a lot. "Wait, wait – I know we don't have to be anywhere just yet, but I thought today's schedule…"

"I don't care about the schedule!"

There's an edge to Barnaby's voice now as he starts to take the stairs down two at a time, as if he's running from something, and for a moment, Kotetsu isn't certain if it's the video, their jobs, himself…

"I don't care about the car waiting for us, or the interviews, I don't care about Hero TV, I don't care…" He wants to add about you, but his voice cracks on the words, knowing they aren't true even if he wants to care about nothing right now.

"Slow down, Bunny!" Kotetsu continues to jog after his partner, trying not to trip over his feet at the swift downward speed, but when Barnaby begins to glow a familiar blue, he curses under his breath and activates his own powers as well.

It's a dizzying spiral down to the bottom, and when he reaches it, Barnaby kicks open the exit door with one red boot and stalks through it. The cold air hits him with a brutal gust of wind, but it barely even registers.

"Would you hold up for just a goddamn second?" Kotetsu grabs his partner's wrist in frustration as the metal door to the alleyway crashes into the brick of the building with a resounding and super-powered clang.

Barnaby stops in mid-step, but doesn't turn around or offer any explanation, leaving Kotetsu to guess at what to do next.

"If you want to go home, it's okay…" he starts, trying to tug Barnaby closer. Kotetsu's method of dealing with most things is to make light, to smooth over, but Barnaby is too far gone for that, and the longer Kotetsu talks, the more rigid he becomes. "And if it's too overwhelming, and if you don't want to talk about it yet, it's okay… I understand… but… please don't act like nothing just happened up there."

"I want to go home," Barnaby says firmly, and with a sharp jerk, yanks his wrist out of Kotetsu's grasp. It's all too much, being back here again, all the things he's just been ignoring for the past week, the lies, the truth, the expectations…

Kotetsu can't help but reach out for him a second time, and when Barnaby sidesteps the embrace, he stumbles in surprise, sliding a little on the slippery ice of the alleyway.

Barnaby catches his partner by the elbow instinctively, righting him, but when Kotetsu tries a third time to pull him in, he shoves him away with both hands forcefully enough that Kotetsu stumbles again. "Please, stop, Kotetsu… I don't…"

Being pushed away after everything they've been through frustrates Kotetsu to no end, and he snaps a little, his own temper rising to the surface as he jumps to conclusions. "So, what? It's too hard? Knowing what you could do, should do, with that information?"

"Stop, please…" Barnaby's fists clench and unclench at his sides. "I don't… I can't…"

"I get it," Kotetsu throws his arms up helplessly, not sure if the tears in his eyes are the fault of his feelings or the bitterly cold wind whipping stray snowflakes through the alleyway. "You don't want to have to make the choice?"

Now the blank expression on Barnaby's face finally furrows up into confusion, and one hand moves to his hip instead. "What are you talking about, old man?"

"I once told you I'd stand by you until you saw things through, but this time… I'm telling you I won't stand in the way, if you need to go…" Kotetsu starts, reaching up to tug on his hat in old nervous habit. "I know how much your parents mean to you, avenging them, and well, they just handed you an even bigger piece of the puzzle, right? So, if you want to come back, I'd understand... I know we retired together, but you don't have to stay that way because of me. If you were back in Stern Bild, back at Apollon, you'd really have the chance to pursue-"

The empty blank inside Barnaby flares into sudden fury as he finally cuts Kotetsu off. "I can't believe you still think I made the decision to leave only because of you." I can't believe you're still trying to send me back here without you. Barnaby pauses for just a moment, but he's incensed now, and he can't hold back his own pride, his desire to finally live his life for himself. "Please, let me correct your vanity, old man – I decided to retire because I wanted to retire! Because I don't know if I want to be a hero! I don't know what I want to do!" It feels like the same circle over and over again… whether it's Maverick or Agnes or the entity of Hero TV, the reporters, the public, Saito, his dead parents, even his partner now… Everyone, absolutely everyone around him has an idea about what he should be doing with his life now. "Didn't we just have this argument last night?"

"Bunny-"

"Can't I be allowed to figure it out for myself for once?" Barnaby rages a little, waving one hand for emphasis. "Can't I just say no to everything until I've at least had time to…to…"

"I just want to help you, Bunny," Kotetsu tries to gentle his voice, but it feels stilted. The last time Barnaby was this angry was when everything went to hell, and he's terrified of making the wrong call again. If nothing else, he's trying to be honest this time around. "I'm really not trying to tell you what to do… I just want you to know you have someone to talk to about this, all of it…"

"But sometimes certain things… feelings… memories…" Barnaby starts to pace a little, just a step or two, back and forth in the narrow space, the growing anxiety warring with his anger. "They need to be sorted through alone. You can't always understand just how I feel!"

"Even if the specifics are different," Kotetsu protests, frozen in place after being pushed away so many times, his fingers twitching at his side. "It doesn't mean I can't relate." It's tearing him up to see Barnaby like this, but it seems like no matter what he says, his partner is determined to take it in the worst way possible. When I can reach out and touch him, I can usually bring him back, remind him… but when he won't even let me do that much… "You already know… the hard things I've endured…"

The attempt at empathy backfires completely and Barnaby turns on Kotetsu, stomping up to him in a renewed fit of rage until Kotetsu takes two surprised steps back and collides with the brick wall. "And I did NOT disrespect and intrude on you that day in Oriental Town, when you were at the cemetery! Can't you respect my wishes in return?"

Kotetsu has argued with Barnaby many times before – they've yelled in each other's faces, thrown more than a few punches, and had more than one scuffle – but Kotetsu doesn't know if he's ever seen such raw pain and fury in his partner's eyes directed at him. It wounds deeper than the words have so far and the truth slips right out before he can even consider whether it's a good time for it or not. "…it would have been okay with me if you had just shown up anyway."

That blatant contradiction, and all the time Barnaby spent worrying that he should have gone to his partner that day, just adds fuel to his fire. "But I'm not you! Sometimes I just want to be alone! Sometimes I just don't give a damn about anyone else!"

The words are like a slap across the face and Kotetsu flinches, but it makes him angrier in return as well, because he knows it's a downright lie. You wouldn't have worked so hard to get me to let you in. "Well, you can't just tell me not to give a damn either, Barnaby! It doesn't work like that! It never has… and it never will!"

Barnaby realizes as they stare each other down angrily, that in the back of his mind, he's counting the seconds until this is over, this impasse with his stubborn partner. And maybe he'll feel awful for the choice later, but in the moment, it feels nothing but good. It feels completely and utterly satisfying to watch the glow fade out from his partner's eyes until they are nothing but brown again, to see the hurt flicker sharply in them as he realizes what's about to happen. "Seeya."

Kotetsu feels the last of his power slip through his fingers, lurching forward with one outstretched hand as Barnaby disappears up and away, yet again, and he knows – he knows that his partner was waiting for just that exact moment to use his known disadvantage against him. He can't chase him, can't possibly catch Barnaby now, because his powers can't keep up, he can't keep up, and to have that rubbed in his face as the parting insult hurts worse than anything that was said.

With a violent roar of frustration, Tiger turns to punch the metal of the door embedded into the brick with Bunny's power, leaving the imprint of his fist in it with nothing but his own impassioned strength.

o/~

Don't run away
Don't run away
Just promise me you will stay
Promise me you will stay

~/o

When Antonio arrives at Hero Bar a half hour early after work that evening, it surprises him to see his oldest friend already waiting for him in their favorite spot. "Glad you could make it, Kotetsu!" he claps an enthusiastic hand down on his friend's shoulder, the adds, glancing around. "Where's your partner?"

"F'I knew that, then… I'be out kickin' his ass," Kotetsu slurs a little, slouched over his drink, and doesn't bother to look up.

Antonio raises one bushy eyebrow and settles onto the barstool beside him, ordering a beer as he takes in his friend's appearance. It's not like Kotetsu to be this gone so early in the night, which brings Antonio to wonder how long he's actually been here, drinking alone. "…fight?"

"…bastard took off on me again…" Kotetsu mutters darkly, then waves over the bartender. "Give me another, make it a double." There's no point in even bringing up the video that started the fight, because it's Bunny's personal business, and really, Kotetsu is upset about far more than that small tidbit. "…it's a long story."

"My ears are open, same as ever," Antonio guzzles the first half of his beer, nudging Kotetsu sharply with one knee in an effort to get him to talk more. Quite familiar with his best friend's tendency to avoid, he has no qualms about dragging the truth from him on occasion.

Kotetsu stirs his drink around for a moment, hesitant, but then he tosses it back and uses the burn to force the words out. "I feel… so inadequate…" Just saying it out loud to someone he trusts, the weight lifts off his shoulders a fraction.

"Hmm…" Antonio hums thoughtfully at the honesty, glancing over at his friend with growing worry. "I think the last time I heard you say that… was the day you found out that Tomoe was pregnant with Kaede."

"Hehehe, true… I was worried that I wasn't ready for it…" Kotetsu chuckles a little at the memory, and then, with no warning, the laughter suddenly dissolves into a quiet choked sound of despair.

Is this really even considered... crying?

There's no sobbing involved, after all... just this painful heavy ache in his chest that threatens to be all-consuming, with hot fat tears seeming to roll endlessly down his cheeks, first one, then the other, the other, the other… As rapidly as he blinks them back, they just continue to silently come, like a damn that's finally been cracked a little too far.

It's hard to breathe. It's tight and it burns.

Slumping down over the wood of the bar, he pulls his hat down before pillowing his face against one arm. He lets the tears come... lets every last one he's ignored and put off and stomped down rise to the surface. How many times can you get turned away and not want to just give up? In his pocket, his cell phone vibrates, going unnoticed against the stupor of its owner. "…..I hate losing. I'm losing everything that matters."

The words would be indistinguishable for most people, but Antonio has known Kotetsu for too long, and so he understands them anyway, as well as the rest of the ramble that starts to pour forth from Kotetsu in broken and garbled half-sentences of drunken despair. It's the first he's really heard his old friend talk openly about the angry humiliation of losing his powers, about how much he misses being a hero, or how much his partnership with Barnaby has come to mean to him. It's the first time he's heard Kotetsu cry over someone, or speak with such intense feeling about anything, since Tomoe's death. Despite the dire situation, that fact alone actually lets Antonio know that there is hope, because there had been a point in the past where he didn't think a moment like this one had a chance of existing in Kotetsu's life.

"…and he just… r'fsed to talk 'bout any of it… though'm hardly better most days, I admit… and then… purposefully… maliciously…ditched me…" Kotetsu makes a swishing noise and a large hand gesture upwards that throws off his precarious balance and Antonio grabs his arm to keep him from falling off the barstool.

Antonio doesn't ever try to tell his friends what to do, but when the bartender walks by this time, he inclines his head just a little to pass along his firm thoughts on the matter. Laying a heavy hand on Kotetsu's shoulder, he squeezes lightly. "I think things will be okay. You and Barnaby will work through this, as you have before."

"Eh?" Kotetsu peers up at his old friend, but his vision is swimming by now, the world is spinning a little after crying for so long, a train of thought is hard to hang onto, a vibrating phone goes unnoticed... "My life's'anything but okay, 'tonio… my powers… and Bunny won't even talk to me."

"But think back to your past - when you were in your worst moments of grief, Kotetsu, did you want to listen to what anyone else had to say about it?"

There's a moment of silence where Kotetsu actually allows the old memories he usually keeps in a steel box to wash over him, and then he shakes his head slowly. "No… I wanted everyone to… fuck off and leave me alone." Closing his eyes, the last moments of his fight with Barnaby flash before his eyes and his lower lip trembles. I don't want to lose Bunny, but what can I really do? I can't force him to confide in me and I can't tell him how to live his life... But despite how hurt Kotetsu still feels, the anger has already faded, and he misses his partner. He wonders if Barnaby misses him at all. "I… should go home."

Antonio lets Kotetsu stand up, but as his friend tries to take a step away from the bar, he pitches forward, his eyes rolling back in his head. The larger man's arm shoots out to catch him mid-fall, and with a heavy sigh, he rolls Kotetsu onto his back in a very familiar and long-practiced way. Slapping some cash down on the bar, he ambles towards the exit with a second heavy sigh. This isn't the first, and probably won't be the last time that he carries his oldest friend home from a bar, but he's just now realizing just how much he's going to miss Kotetsu once he goes back to Oriental Town for good.

The Hero TV team hasn't been the same without Tiger & Bunny.

In Kotetsu's pocket, his phone begins to vibrate again…

…3 missed calls (Bunny)…

…4 missed calls (Bunny)…

…5 missed calls (Bunny)…

…6 missed calls (Bunny)…

…7 missed calls (Bunny)…

o/~
Everybody's got a dark side
Do you love me?
Can you love mine?
Nobody's picture perfect
But we're worth it
You know that we're worth it
~/o