A/N: I have to apologize for how long this took. I wrote it, and rewrote it, and rewrote it again because I couldn't get an ending that I liked. I think now though I have one that's good enough to show everyone. So thank you all for dealing with my GLACIAL writing pace and without further ado, here is the long-awaited ending!

Fuzzy shapes slowly faded into focus, and a sharp smell assaulted Hiro's senses. Looking around, he was met with plain white walls and impersonal furnishings in the room. To his left, a steady beeping started to get on his nerves and something was weighing down his legs.

Hiro pushed himself up slightly and saw his brother, slumped over in a chair, still in his armour save the helmet.

"Tadashi," Hiro hissed. When Tadashi didn't move he tried again, louder. "Tadashi!"

Tadashi blinked awake and when he saw Hiro looking at him he snapped up in his chair, losing his balance in the process and nearly tumbling to the floor. Hiro snickered as Tadashi righted himself and moved closer to the bed.

"Hiro? You're awake! How do you feel?" Tadashi smiled tentatively, his hands hovering and unsure of whether he should hug Hiro or keep his distance.

Hiro's expression twisted in thought for a second before replying, "I have a headache, but I think I'm okay? I mean, nothing hurts."

Tadashi sighed in relief and settled on laying his hands on Hiro's arm and squeezing gently.

"Do you… remember anything?" Tadashi dared to ask.

"The bots were coming for me and then that was it." Hiro responded. "Did we get him? Did we get Everwraith?"

Tadashi looked down at Hiro. He wondered if he should tell him. He clearly didn't remember anything, he didn't remember any of the mind control or being with Everwraith. Should he tell him? Or would Hiro be better off not knowing about what had happened?

"We did, but not the way we originally planned." Hiro's expression turned confused and Tadashi sighed. Shoulders slumping in defeat he decided that yes, Hiro did have a right to know what happened, and if he found out from someone else later, it would cause a lot more problems.

So Tadashi explained what had happened, from the moment Hiro had been taken, to the moment Tadashi had gotten him back. Hiro listened through the whole thing, expression becoming slightly more horrified with each thing Tadashi told him.

"I tried to kill you," Hiro breathed when Tadashi was done.

"No, no! Hiro no it wasn't you, it was Everwraith. None of this is your fault," Tadashi tried to reassure. Hiro didn't look any less horrified.

"How can you say that!?" Hiro asked. "It was me I should have-"

"Hiro no, there was nothing you could do," Tadashi cut him off. If there was one thing Tadashi was sure of, it was that Hiro had absolutely no control over any of his actions. And Tadashi would do everything he could to convince Hiro of that.

"But, if I had just not placed the EMP like you wanted, or if- if I had run a little faster I-"

"Hiro," Hiro stopped talking and looked up at Tadashi, tears brimming in his eyes. Tadashi pulled his brother into a hug, rocking him back and forth slightly.

"There was nothing you could do," Tadashi repeated. "And as much as I wish I could have changed things, there was nothing I, or anyone else, could have done either. It is was it is and you're safe now. That's what matters most."

Hiro sniffled quietly as Tadashi hugged him for a few more moments.

"The others?" Hiro finally asked. "Are they okay? Did I hurt any of them?"

"No, they're all fine Hiro, everyone is fine," Tadashi tried to smile reassuringly.

At that moment, footsteps approached the room and the brothers looked at the door in anticipation.

"Hey, Tadashi we found ou-" Gogo rounded the corner and stopped when she saw Hiro awake and sitting up in his bed.

Immediately, she turned and called down the hall, "Guys, he's awake!"

She turned back and smiled in relief, moving to Hiro's other side and pulling him in to a comforting hug of her own. It was rare Gogo showed her soft side, but seeing Hiro awake and sitting up and himself called for one of those rare moments.

Hiro hugged her back as the others came flooding into the room, bringing multiple shrieks of "Hiro!" and "You're back!" into the room with them. His friends surrounded the bed, grinning with joy and relief.

A moment later, Aunt Cass rushed into the room looking disheveled and exhausted. Tears were brimming in her eyes but she smiled when she saw Hiro looking up at her from his bed. She made a noise of relief and rushed past Tadashi to hold Hiro and fuss over him.

"Okay, okay Aunt Cass! I'm fine, really." He laughed and gently pushed her away.

She stood back a moment, staring at Hiro.

"Do you know how worried I was?" She started halfheartedly. "All this time I try to keep you safe and you go and become superheroes? This wasn't in the parenting-101 book!"

"'m sorry Aunt Cass," Hiro mumbled, blushing.

Aunt Cass hugged him again, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Did Tadashi explain what happened?" Wasabi asked gently.

Hiro nodded but asked anyway, "What happened to Everwraith?"

"I was going to tell Tadashi when I first came in," Gogo spoke up. "The police took him in, and he's going to court in a week. Things aren't looking good for him though. There's no way he's going to get out of these charges."

"I found out more though," Honey Lemon added. "The police have already interrogated him and his real name is Kiyoshi Tanimoto. Also, it turns out he was destroying everything because he has a little sister who was robbed a while ago, but the robbers were never charged."

The happy atmosphere in the room became somewhat muted at the information, each person realizing that Everwraith was a bit more human than they had thought.

"You sure you okay dude?" Fred asked.

Hiro quickly flashed and wide grin at Fred and everyone else and told them he had and that everything was just fine.

Everything was absolutely not fine, but Hiro wasn't going to say that. Not yet.

Later that night after checkouts and embarrassing wheelchair rides (The doctors had insisted as they didn't know the effects of mind control yet and wanted Hiro to come back for regular checkups) Hiro lay in bed in the room Fred had let him borrow, staring at the ceiling far from sleep.

He shifted trying to get comfortable but feeling no less relaxed and no more tired. Thoughts and what ifs flashed through his mind, unsettling him and making his heart beat faster in his chest.

What if he had killed Tadashi? What if Everwraith had used him to make the bots better? What if he had just listened to Tadashi.

Hiro turned over again and curled up tightly on his side, trying to calm his shallow breathing. Mochi, who had shown up on Fred's doorstep two days after the fire was curled up on the pillow beside him. The cat hadn't left Hiro's side since he came home, and having Mochi there was keeping Hiro somewhat relaxed.

Across the room, Tadashi sighed and shifted in his sleep. He had insisted on sharing a room with Hiro in case he needed anything or something happened. Hiro thought about calling out to him, but was afraid he would be bothering him too much. He shifted again to stare at the designs on the fancy ceiling and tried to take deep breaths.

All he succeeded in was a sort of shuddering wheezing.

A shuddering wheezing that woke Tadashi up and had him across the room in less than a second.

"Hiro? What's wrong, what's going on?" In the faint light filtering through the windows, Hiro could see his brother's worried expression hovering above him.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Hiro apologized.

"Yeah, but it's okay, I'm more worried about you," Tadashi sat down on the edge of Hiro's bed. "What are you thinking about?"

Hiro sucked in a breath, pushing himself up and deciding maybe it was okay to tell Tadashi. He had told Hiro he was there for him and Tadashi seemed worried enough not to tell Hiro that he wasn't thinking right and it was nothing to stress about.

"I just, I keep thinking 'what if?' What if something different had happened, and everything hadn't turned out all right?" Hiro looked down at his hands and played nervously with the sheets.

Tadashi frowned, thinking for a moment. He absolutely couldn't tell Hiro he was worrying too much. That wasn't what he needed to hear. He searched for the right words then turned himself fully towards Hiro.

"You're right," he agreed quietly. "There are a lot of 'what ifs' and 'could have happeneds'. But what's important is that these what ifs never happened, and I think that's what matters most. It's okay to think 'what if' but don't answer that 'what if'. All that matters is what is."

Tadashi smiled gently and pulled Hiro into a hug. Hiro closed his eyes and pressed himself closer, hugging back with all the force he could muster.

"How am I going to even get through this all? I still can't even calm myself down when I get too nervous and-"

"Shhh," Tadashi shushed him. "We'll get through it together, I'm not giving up on you."

And Hiro realized that maybe he could get through anything.

A/N: Thank you all so so much for sticking with me through my first story. I love you all so much and I appreciate all the comments and kudos and favourites. It's given me the courage and inspiration to keep writing and continue learning. So thank you all and a big thanks to my sister who played a big part in kicking my butt into gear and getting me to write things! So thank you all again and I hope to see you around with my next writing projects. xoxo