Happy belated Easter everyone! I hope you're all doing well and eating lots of delicious candy ^-^

Not much to say about this chapter, other than the fact that I'm glad it's finally done. Phew! *wipes brow* I've gotta say, the writing process for this one was really on-and-off, completed mostly during my commutes on the London tube. You'd be surprised how conducive the atmosphere can be to us writers lol ;)

Anyways, I told myself I was gonna get this done before the end of the month, and lo and behold, I most certainly did. Score one for me! *Baymax-style fist bump*

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney and Marvel.

It was Friday night, and instead of relaxing, Maiye Barton found herself busier than ever. She was up on her feet, darting about her family's kitchen, peeking under pans and stirring pots. Her hair was tossed up into a messy bun, and her apron strings were starting to unravel.

Hiro was coming for dinner.

Maiye had always loved to cook. Ever since she was little, she enjoyed helping her dad in the kitchen, usually while her mother was painting. Maiye's mother couldn't cook for peanuts, so while she and her father got to work, she would relegate herself to a far corner to watch them. It was one of the few good memories Maiye had of the woman.

However, it seemed her father had not broken the habit when he married Heather, because the only thing she could make without risk of burning the kitchen down involved a microwave, and even that had its ups and downs.

Therefore, meals in the Barton family household usually consisted of Phil's cooking, Maiye's cooking, their combined culinary prowess, and anything you could heat with a microwave. Or takeout. There was always takeout.

Now though, as Maiye bustled about the small kitchen, Heather stood at one lone counter, peeling vegetables and making sure various dishes didn't burn or boil over. Meanwhile, in the living room, Yumi sat in her playpen with a set of blocks, happy as a clam. The open-concept floor plan of the Barton home allowed for both Maiye and Heather to occasionally glance over and see that the troublesome two-year-old was staying put.

Just when Maiye thought she didn't have enough to worry about, her father suddenly came lumbering through the front door, home from work, dressed in none other than his full police getup.

"Hey, ladies!" he said brightly. "What are we making?"

"Dad," Maiye's eyes widened in horror "What are you wearing?!"

"My police uniform?" He raised his eyebrows. "Like I always do when I go to work?"

"But you're supposed to change there!"

"Usually, yes. But it's Friday and this thing needs a wash." Walking into the kitchen, Phil began rummaging through the cabinets. "Now where did we put that salad spinner?"

"I think what Maiye means, dear," Heather cut in patiently. "Is that surely you're not planning on wearing that when her new boyfriend is coming for dinner?"

"New boyfriend?" grinned Phil. "Perfect! What are we having?"

"Dad!" Maiye shrieked. "You can't wear that! You'll scare him away!"

"But haven't I already met him?" he asked her. "When you guys fought that robot?"

"Yes, but this is official."

"I would say giant destructive robots are pretty official, wouldn't you?"

"DAD, IT'S DINNER."

"Phillip," Heather interrupted and sighed. "Go upstairs and change."

"Alright, alright," He put his hands up in defeat and turned towards Maiye. "I'm sorry, kiddo," he said. "I was only fooling around."

"I know," Maiye said. "I just really want this to go well, that's all."

"Why, is he asking for your hand in marriage?"

"DAD!"

"I'm just kidding, sweetheart," he laughed and patted Maiye's shoulder. "You're smarter than that, I know."

"And so is he," Maiye raised her hand and shooed it towards her father. "Now get out of my kitchen."

Jaw dropping in mock horror, Phil put one hand on his hip and struck a sassy pose. "Ruuuude!" he sang loudly.

"I don't care," Maiye turned back towards the oven. "So long as you not do that while Hiro's here."

"Oh boy," Phil shook his head and chuckled softly. "This is serious."

As he turned to walk up the stairs, he just missed the blush that had begun to come over his daughter's cheeks.

Maiye's father was right. This was serious.

206… 206… 206...

…206?

Hiro's mind felt fuzzy and he was starting to regret leaving the warmth of his bed as he tread softly down the desolate hospital corridor, bare feet echoing against the cold, unforgiving tile. If anyone caught him out here, he'd surely be in trouble. Patients weren't supposed to walk around without at least a nurse to guide them in case they became disoriented and lost their way. And with such injuries that Hiro had sustained throughout the day, he was the last person who ought to be walking around alone.

But he had to find her.

It was like he told Baymax before he left. He had to see her for himself, know for certain that she was the one lying in that hospital bed, and not some ginger-haired doppelganger who'd stolen her identity.

But when he finally arrived at his destination, there was no further doubt left in Hiro's mind.

It was absolutely, completely, and unequivocally her.

She looked different of course, but so did everyone who stayed in a hospital room. Despite the scratchy blankets, dreary gown, and single fluorescent light shining above, it was obvious to anyone that the girl in the bed was Maiye Barton.

It was well past midnight and she was tired, so she obviously wasn't awake. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was rising and falling at a steady rate so that the only sounds in the room were her quiet breathing and the beep…beep…beep… of the machine by her bed.

Looking down at her, Hiro swallowed hard and wondered if he should have come in the first place, done as everyone said and waited until tomorrow to visit. But what was the point in waiting? Morning would come and she'd still look the same, wouldn't she?

Instead of being in a high ponytail or messy bun like usual, her hair was down, the long, red strands sitting limply over her shoulders and the pillow behind her. As a result of the explosion, a few pieces were singed here and there, dusty little dots colored black and gray. Her right cheek was bandaged, and her mouth was covered by an oxygen mask, helping her to breathe.

But that wasn't all. On the upper portion of her left arm, white gauze bandages were wrapped around the entirety of the appendage and across to her opposite shoulder, peeking out through the top of the dingy hospital gown, serving as a physical reminder of the guilt Hiro felt deep inside.

It was probably a good thing Maiye was asleep right now, because there was no doubt in Hiro's mind that if she were awake to see him out of bed, he would get shouted at.

"What are you doing here!?" she'd say to him. "You're not supposed to be out of bed! Go back and rest!"

"...Yes, I'm happy you came to see me. But I'd rather you do it when you're healthy again. Did you even tell your nurse where you were going?"

"...Mhmm, I didn't think so. Now go back to bed, or I'll call my own nurse right now. See this button here? I'm gonna press it, and then you'll be sorry. Oh boy, will you be sorry!"

In his mind's eye, he could almost see her laughing as she did that, her fingers carefully poised over said button, hovering just out of reach, telling him to get out of here and come back later.

Quite possibly when she was awake.

Hiro gave another sigh and shook his head, ignoring the tiny burst of pain that came along with it. This was a mistake. He shouldn't have come to see her. He thought that doing so would help him somehow, assuage the heaviness in his heart, but it didn't. It just made it worse.

What were you expecting? His subconscious taunted him. That she would get up and say hello to you? She's hurt, stupid. Because of you.

Hiro grit his teeth and tried once again to banish the thoughts from his head, but to no avail. He was a genius, and therefore an expert at retaining facts he knew to be true. And at the moment, nothing felt more true than this.

The mission went wrong. The bad guy got away. His girlfriend was in the hospital.

Because. Of. Him.

It was no use. No matter which way he looked at it, Hiro couldn't deny that he was somewhat responsible for everything that happened lately. He was the one who first swindled Yama. He was the one who asked Maiye to join the team. It had been his brilliant plan that pushed her within an inch of her life.

And that didn't even begin to top his list of regrets.

This incident marked the second time in Hiro's life that he'd allowed someone he loved to run straight to their doom. On the night Tadashi died, he had been right there. The explosion that killed him was so similar to this one it was downright eerie.

He could have stopped him. He should have stopped him.

And Maiye too.

But the truth of the matter was this: Hiro hadn't been able to stop her from getting hurt any more than he'd stopped Tadashi running into the lecture hall.

Bowing his head, Hiro shut his eyes tightly as tears began forming from within. Why did this keep happening? First his parents, then his brother, and now his girlfriend. The universe had taken the first two already, and the third was currently lying in a hospital bed, lucky to be alive. If this was a practical joke, it stopped being funny a long time ago.

It wasn't enough that his childhood status as a genius alienated him from the rest of his peers. It wasn't enough that he'd spent most of his youth getting picked on and pushed around by other people. And, it wasn't enough that his only support system throughout all that, his only friend, had been taken from him, just like that.

Now that he had friends, he'd put them in danger. Now that he had normality, he'd shattered it. And, now that he'd finally developed romantic feelings for someone – the first person he'd met after Tadashi's death who saw past all his genius and all his problems and had accepted him just the way he was – he'd allowed her to get hurt.

It seemed to be a universal fact. Because of him, people got hurt.

And he couldn't let that happen.

Leaning down, Hiro pressed a gentle kiss onto Maiye's forehead, one of the only places where there were no bandages or tubes to get in the way, before turning around and quietly leaving the room.

"So where'd you get those anyways?"

"Get what?"

"Those!"

"You're going to have to be more specific."

From his position beside Maiye, Hiro laughed and gestured towards her neck. "Your dog tags," he said to her. "They're cool."

"Thanks," she smiled briefly and turned back to her computer screen.

It was a beautiful day to spend outside. Finals were over, the semester had ended, and winter break was finally upon them. Well, less of a winter break and more of a sixty-degrees-and-sunny-every-day break. But as she informed Hiro not five minutes earlier, that name was much too long and entirely impractical.

After formally declaring their feelings during an intense week of finals, the young couple was now taking the time to enjoy their new relationship as it came to them. In the meantime, everyone else breathed a huge sigh of relief and collectively whispered, "Finally."

I still can't believe they were placing bets on us. Maiye suppressed an eyeroll as she typed out a new row of code. Do people here really have nothing better to do?

Her typing was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of a gentle weight on her left shoulder. Glancing over, she saw that Hiro had taken the liberty of resting his head there whilst he scribbled away in his journal, eyes cast downwards and partially obscured by his dark black hair. Maiye smiled fondly for a moment and returned the gesture, leaning back against him, before going back to her work.

"So," Hiro said, breaking the comfortable silence. "Where'd you get them?"

"Hmm?" Maiye tilted her head up again and found herself staring directly into Hiro's wide brown eyes. "Get what?"

"Your dog tags," he clarified. "Are they yours? Or a family member's?"

"No," Maiye mumbled suddenly. "They're mine."

"Well, you're too young to have been in the military," continued Hiro. "I mean, unless there's something you're not telling me."

"No," Maiye laughed a little. "Nothing like that."

"No ROTC then?"

"Nope."

"Hmm," Hiro furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm running out of ideas here."

"I've got all day."

"Then," Hiro continued. "Was it just because you wanted some?"

"Well," Maiye sighed and didn't meet his gaze. "Yes and no."

"What's that mean?"

Maiye paused. "You'll think I'm weird," she muttered. "Or paranoid. Probably both."

"I already know you're neither."

Maiye turned her head to see Hiro looking at her with an expression that was so open and earnest that it caused her stomach to twist and her cheeks to redden. She let out a sigh.

"They're for me, all right?" she said at last. "They've got all my information on them so I can always have it with me."

"Like an ID?"

"Yeah."

"Cool," Hiro smiled. "Must make it easier on you."

"You would think so," Maiye responded. "But I don't like my reason for doing it."

"What's the reason?" asked Hiro. "Unless you don't want to tell me," He added quickly. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No, I'll tell you," said Maiye. "I just – It's this weird thing I have. I have to have all my information with me all the time, in case anything bad should happen."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "And what's so wrong with that?"

"Because it feels like I'm planning for the worst!" she blurted out. "I can't ever just relax. My mind is always going in a thousand different directions and I always seem to jump straight to the worst case scenario."

Placing her computer to the side, she pulled her knees to her chest and looked away from Hiro. "I know it sounds morbid," she said. "And the chances of anything happening are slim to none. But I just… I don't know, if anything happened to me and my family didn't know, I wouldn't want to make them suffer like that."

Hiro was silent for a moment while Maiye set her gaze forward, refusing to look him in the eye. What was the point? He probably thought she was crazy now anyways, if not entirely insane. As soon as the timing was right, he would probably make a quick exit and go find himself a girl with far less issues than Maiye. It was only a matter of time.

Instead though, he simply leaned over and wrapped his arms around Maiye in a gentle hug, a gesture which surprised her so much that she instantly turned to look at him. Upon meeting his eyes, in them, she saw no judgement. Not even a little.

"I don't think it sounds morbid," he told her. "And I don't think you have anything to worry about. For one thing, nothing is going to happen to you."

Maiye raised an eyebrow. "You can't prove tha-"

"Ah ah ah," Hiro raised a finger and cut her off, barely suppressing a smile. "I'm not finished yet."

Maiye rolled her eyes, but let Hiro continue.

"For another," he said. "If anything were to happen to you, it wouldn't be your fault. It would be some other idiot making your family suffer, not you. You wouldn't be held responsible for that."

Maiye remained silent for a moment. "You make a good point."

Hiro grinned. "It's been known to happen." Leaning forward, he then surprised Maiye even further by pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her cheek.

"I'm serious, though," he told her. "You have nothing to worry about."

Maiye felt her cheeks redden. Not only because Hiro had kissed her (which made her blush on its own), but because of what he was saying. Throughout the duration of their knowing each other, there had only been a handful of times where she'd seen him like this – caring and sweet.

Maiye wouldn't lie, when they'd first met, she expected her lab partner to be cocky and arrogant, especially after hearing about his background as a child genius. She was so convinced that she'd be spending her semester dealing with another spoiled brat that she'd nearly written him off altogether.

And now they were dating.

Funny how that worked out, wasn't it?

Turning back towards Hiro, Maiye smiled at him but didn't realize their faces were still close together. As a result, they promptly bumped noses.

Hiro's face turned a brilliant red. "Whoops."

Maiye laughed at his sheepishness. "Fine by me," she told him.

Sensing an opportunity, Maiye stole a quick kiss from Hiro's unsuspecting lips, relishing the look of shocked surprise that came over his face. Then, he grinned.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be?" he teased. "Well, we'll just see about that…"

An entire week passed before Maiye was released from the hospital.

After the explosion, doctors determined that the burns on her arm were severe enough to require a skin graft. Once the procedure was done, she remained in the hospital for several more days before being allowed to go home.

But it wasn't over yet. The surgery was complete, but the recovery was not. Even though Maiye was at home now, she still had to rest and attend physical therapy at least twice a week. Third-degree burns were no joke. If left untreated, there was a chance that Maiye would permanently lose use of her left arm.

Luckily though, Maiye was a dutiful patient, if a very stubborn one, and determined not to allow a temporary setback impact her permanently. Therefore, with a little help from her parents (and Yumi), she took her medicine, changed her bandages, and attended physical therapy without complaint. And, although he still felt guilty for what happened, Hiro was with her every step of the way.

Time passed, and the end of the month was quickly approaching. To the gang, that meant only one thing laid upon the horizon: the beginning of a new semester. As they all sat gathered in the Lucky Cat Café, Fred was the first to broach the subject.

"I've been thinking," he said.

"Oh, really now?" Gogo teased.

"Yes," Fred laughed and his face flushed for a moment before continuing. "As we all know," he said. "Semester break is almost over. I think I can speak for pretty much everyone when I say it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride."

Wasabi was the first to let out a humorless chuckle. "Got that right."

"Precisely," continued Fred. "Which is why I had an idea." Settling back in his chair, he turned to face the others. "I'm proposing that, as a team," he said. "We all do one last crazy awesome thing together before the semester starts and we get totally swamped down with work. You ready?"

The others exchanged concerned glances and raised eyebrows (this was Fred they were talking about, after all), but turned their gazes back to their friend, who was now grinning widely from ear to ear.

"We take…" he announced with a dramatic flourish. "A vacation."

Before I go any further, I'd just like to clarify one thing right now: I am not a medical doctor. I have no experience regarding the treatment of injuries, burns or otherwise, beyond that of simple cuts and scrapes. The description of Maiye's injuries and treatment is based entirely upon my own research from a variety of sources, so if there are inaccuracies, then I apologize in advance.

On another note, yay! Vacation with the gang! Should be exciting... in more ways than one ;)

As always, thank you for the previous reviews you all have left me. Questions, comments, constructive criticism... all are welcome here.

Flames, however? Blocked and reported :)

Until next time,

Liz