Disclaimer: I don't own any of the character's, except the doctor. Merely using the characters of Tiger & Bunny for fun. Not getting paid or anything.

Summary: Who would you call if you were in trouble. Kind of sucks when they don't answer huh? Do you have multiple back up plans? Maybe Tiger's luck is finally running out?

Warning: Possible trigger warning towards gun usage. Possible trigger toward emotions.

Author notes: I can only hope you enjoy this read and will let me know. I apologize in advance for hurting Wild Tiger/Kotetsu, but I love a good hurt the good guy story.

The quiet white stuff that was falling from the sky made for the most beautiful scene once it hit the cold hard ground. Unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the sole disturbance to the beautiful scene was the dark red that was leaking from the hole that happened to be located in the side of a fairly handsome young man. His cap lad fallen where it landed after he'd been shot. Small puffs of smoke rose from the quickly turning blue lips of the man, indicating that he was somewhat still alive, but the question was, for how long? He'd attempted to call for help from his fellow heroes, but each were either too busy to answer the call or doing something else. There was one last person on his list of friends, but this guy was more of an acquaintance than a friend. They'd been forced upon each other and neither had liked the idea very much. He took it upon himself to only call, if he had to, for emergencies. Taking in his predicament, he had to know this probably was one of those times to call, but he was too worried he'd end up not getting a response anyway. The pain to lift himself from the ground was too much for him or he would've made his way to a hospital already. Unfortunately, he was in a section of town that not many people walked around as his yells for help had also gone unheeded. He started to wonder if there was a point. Would anyone miss him? He thought of his late wife and how much he'd love being able to see her again, but that thought ended abruptly as he thought of his nine-year old daughter. How could he ever think of leaving her without both her parents? In his defense, he was losing blood, he hardly had time to see her anyways, and he wasn't thinking clearly as a whole due to the cold. Unsure as to what else he had to loose, besides maybe his life, he forced himself to search his wrist phone for one Barnaby Brooks Jr.

"This is Barnaby Brooks Jr."

Even his voice when he answer the phone was annoying.

"Is anyone there?"

Kotetsu had to put away his strong dislike for the man so that he could say why he called.

"If this is some kind of sick perverted joke..."

"I... need... help."

-Tiger and Bunny-

Barnaby Brooks Jr. wasn't a social butterfly, unless he was forced to join at parties to get more sponsors, so he was home watching the video feed he'd been given to try and figure out what kind of man he had been forced to team up with. He was watching their last battle when his wrist phone rang. He wasn't entirely sure who'd be calling him tonight, but he figured it might be important.

"This is Barnaby Brooks Jr."

Maybe it was his sponsor calling in with more ways to get points and to raise his name in the ranks. When he didn't hear anything for a moment he frowned confused.

"Is anyone there?"

There, he could just make out the faint sounding of... was someone just breathing into his phone? Was that a moan?

"If this is some kind of sick perverted joke..."

"I... need... help."

That stopped him cold and he frowned as he finally took in whose name the caller ID was flashing for him. Wild Tiger. It wasn't exactly unknown to the whole world that the two of them didn't see eye to eye, so it did give him pause to wonder why the man had called upon him instead of one of this other friends.

"What exactly do you need help with?"

The line was quiet for a moment and Barnaby started to think either Tiger had hung up or he really was playing some kind of game.

"I'm... at the corner... of Winthrop and Heist. Find me... alleyway."

Barnaby looked at the phone and started to tell him off.

"Please."

Then the phone went dead. Barnaby arched an eyebrow and shook his head. If this was his idea of a sick joke... maybe Wild Tiger had too much to drink and was now seeking someone to cart his butt home... He paused again as he remember the last word spoken. Not that he was paying that much attention, but he had to admit he'd barely heard it, as if it was the last thing the man could say. He figured the least he could do was go down and tell the man off for his drinking and to remind him they were merely partners when it came to fighting criminals on television. They weren't friends and that he should only call if it were an emergency. It took Barnaby all of seven minutes to get to the location he was given. When he took in the surrounding, he took another two minutes to worry if he should even park his car here and get out. Sighing, he got out of the car and looked for the alley that Tiger had told him about. As he rounded the corner, he jumped slightly as the cat he disturbed ran from its hiding spot and hissed at him before running to find another place to stay the night.

"Damn cat."

Barnaby pulled his jacket collar up closer as the chilling winds got to him. At first he had the light at the end of the street to guide him, but as soon as he got further into the alley he could hardly see anything. He pulled up the flashlight on his wrist phone and used its light to make his way down the alley. He paused when he saw a cap and then a body. He lifted the light higher and then jerked back when he saw the crimson in the snow. He started to flash back to finding his parents dead, but the slight movement he saw gave him pause.

"Bunny?"

The name came out weak as possible and Barnaby actually was surprised he'd heard it.

"Tiger? Is that you?"

Barnaby moved in closer for inspection and gasped at the sight he saw.

"What happened?"

Somehow he was able to remain calm and quickly thought back to his first aid training. He found something to cover the bullet wound and applied pressure. He could only assume it was the extremely cold temperature that was keeping Tiger's blood for leaving his body faster. He frowned when he wondered why Tiger hadn't just called for an ambulance, but then NEXT personnel didn't really get along with the regular citizens. Plus as a hero, he did have an image to protect. He just thought Tiger didn't play along those rules of the Hero game. When he took a moment to realize that Tiger hadn't answered his question, he looked up at the fallen hero and noted his eyes were closed and that his chest was barely moving.

"Tiger? Hey. Open your eyes."

Tiger did nothing to show that he'd heard the man at all. Barnaby frowned more and shook his shoulder trying to get some kind of response out of his partner. When none came, he set into motion the events that would either save Tiger's life, or continue to hinder it. Forty-five minutes later had Barnaby letting his boss know that Tiger would be out of commission for a while and that he was in the hospital waiting room waiting to hear how his surgery had gone. Part of him wondered how the man had gotten himself in the mess to begin with, but another part, maybe a small part, didn't care for the guy. Perhaps part of it was worry if the world would be able to accept him without Tiger around. Another part was genuine concern for his partner's health.

"Are you the one that brought in Wild Tiger?"

Barnaby stood to his feet when the doctor addressed him with the question.

"Yes. Is he going to be alright? Was there any way to tell what happened?"

"I'm Dr. Colter. Please, you might want to sit back down. Mr. Tiger suffers from a gun shot wound (GSW), multiple fractured and broken ribs, cuts and lacerations to his back, and hypothermia. Thought his GSW was a through and through, we're worried about infection. The hypothermia has given us pause for concern. Due to his ribs, we'll be watching for pneumonia as well. Mr. Tiger will be with us for quite a while. You can see him, but it'll have to be brief as you're not exactly family or next of kin. As his partner when fighting crime, would you know how to contact his family?"

Barnaby had been glad he'd sat down when instructed to do so. What in the world had Tiger gotten himself into? At the question of notifying the family, Barnaby realized he didn't even know if Wild Tiger had any family to contact.

"I.. um... I...I don't know. May I go see him now?"

"Yes, right this way."

Barnaby followed the doctor up to ICU and then to Tiger's room. He actually took a minute to take in all the machinery that was around and attached to the man.

"Does he really need all that?"

"I'm afraid he does. A nurse will be in here shortly to make sure you leave after a few minutes. I'm sorry about your friend. I hope you're able to find whoever did this."

"Uh... thank you. So am I."

With a final nod, the doctor turned and left the room. Barnaby looked down at the man he felt was a pain in his side. He couldn't help the pang of hurt, worry, that he felt when he thought of having to tell the others. He didn't know what to say. He had no answers for their questions and he was sure there would be a lot of questions. With a sigh, he exited the room just as a nurse was walking in to check on Wild Tiger's temperature.

"Have a good night Mr. Brooks. We'll watch over Mr. Tiger for you."

Barnaby merely looked at the nurse for a moment and then nodded. He made his way down towards the entrance of the hospital and to his car. He'd followed the ambulance when it took Tiger. He sat in it for a minute before he turned the engine over and made his way towards home. He wasn't exactly sure how to break it to the others about Tiger's condition, but he felt after a good night's sleep, he'd break it to them gently at work tomorrow.

-Tiger and Bunny-

The next day found the world in an almost perfect Winter Wonderland. Almost perfect because Barnaby kept flashing back to how he found Wild Tiger last night. Or was that this morning? He sighed as he made his way into the gym area of the Hero's building. He saw Blue Rose working out on the treadmill and walked over to her.

"I have something important to tell you and the other heroes. Can you meet me in the common room in a few minutes? Also can you tell anyone else you see on the way? I'm gonna go tell the others."

"Umm... sure... I guess."

"Thanks."

With that said, Barnaby went off to speak to Sky High, Rock Bison, and Origami Cyclone. He could only hope that Rose found Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem. When everyone was accounted for, everyone except Tiger of course, Barnaby took a deep breath.

"Hey, where's Wild Tiger?" Blue Rose asked.

"Actually, that's why I asked you all here."

Everyone moved in a way to look at Barnaby. Originally, he had no problems being the center of attention, but as this was bad news, he hated to be the one to tell them.

"What's going on Barnaby?" Bison questioned. "I saw he called, but I was busy at the time. When I tried to call him back he wouldn't answer."

As Bison and Tiger are known to be the best of friends, Barnaby really had to question what he was doing when Tiger needed him last night. Again, Barnaby was fairly certain that he was the last person Tiger would call for help. He was assured of this when everyone else made comment about how Tiger had tried calling them, but left no message. How they all had tried to call him back, but Tiger hadn't answered. Barnaby started to ask everyone what they were doing, but he shook his head.

"Wild Tiger's in the hospital. Guess he called me when he couldn't reach any of you." He let that sink in for a minute before he continued. "The doctor told me he'd been shot, has multiple fractured and broken ribs, cuts and lacerations to his back, and he's suffering from hypothermia. I can only hope they've gotten the hypothermia under control. They were worried about him getting pneumonia and an infection setting in from the GSW. I haven't been by yet today to check on him."

The surprise on everyone's faces was expected. Even the look of guilt and shame of not being there for a comrade was expected. What wasn't expected was the anger that came from Bison after Barnaby finished speaking.

"Why didn't you call me when you found all this out?!"

"Excuse me if I didn't think to call any of you when you didn't answer the original call for help. He's in good hands and now I've told you. I'm heading over now to see if there's been any change. The doctor asked me to get in touch with his family, but I wasn't aware he had any so I haven't tried..."

"Shit!" Bison exclaimed. "Let me get changed and I'll go with you."

With that said, Bison took off in order to change his clothes.

"I'll wait to see him on my own time." Fire Emblem stated.

Blue Rose was too shocked and didn't reply. The other two could hardly just up and leave. Someone had to be a hero and make the points. Barnaby couldn't fault them for that, but it was still a bit of a surprise to hear it from those he thought were friends of Wild Tiger. Bison hadn't taken long before he was back in the common room and waiting for Barnaby to lead him to his car.

"You can leave getting in touch with Tiger's family to me. I know who to call. I'll do it after I've seen him. Maybe I can…"

Barnaby didn't take his eyes off the road as he made his way towards the hospital, but at Bison's pause he wanted to.

"Do you know what happened? How'd he get shot? Was he working?" Bison questioned.

"I don't know what happened. I don't know how he got shot and I can only assume it might not have been a job as he wasn't in costume, but then again, in his case, he could've been saving someone and just didn't think before he acted. I've told him time and time again…"

"Let's make sure we know what happened before you judge him too harshly."

Barnaby nodded and turned into the entrance of the hospital. He parked and led Bison up to Tiger's room. As Bison was marked as Tiger's next of kin, he was allowed more information about Tiger and to sit with him longer than a few minutes. Barnaby had to wait a few minutes before he was allowed into the room when Bison walked out.

"I'm… I'm gonna go call his family now. You can go sit with him."

"How's he looking?"

Bison sighed and shook his head before moving down a hall that held a phone for visitors. Barnaby watched Bison walk away before he turned to enter Tiger's room.

-Tiger and Bunny-

"Kaburagi residence." A small and cheerful voice filled the phone once Bison placed the call.

"Hey Kaede. Is your uncle or grandma around?"

"Yes, Obāchan is here. One second."

Bison heard Kotetsu's daughter call for her grandmother and waited the few minutes it took the older woman to get to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Kaburagi?"

"Yes? Antonio, that you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"This must be about that son of mine. If he's trying to get out of the promise he made to Kaede because he has to work he's got another thing coming. Too scared to call me himself huh? Well you just tell him…"

"It is about Kotetsu, Mrs. Kaburagi. He… are you sitting down ma'am?"

"Antonio, what's going on? Why do I need to sit? What's happened?"

"Kotetsu… he's in the hospital. Doctors said a GSW, cuts and lacerations. He… he's got broken and cracked ribs and because of that he's also got pneumonia. They're still having a hard time getting his body temperature back up. I've just been in to see him…I'm sorry to have to tell you this."

"Oh Kotetsu…"

Bison could hear a comment made from someone else in the room. He assumed it to be Kotetsu's older brother, Muramasa. What he didn't expect was to talk to the other man.

"Mother's not taking whatever the news was well. What's happened and do I need to make a trip out there?"

Bison retold what he'd just said to the man's mother and he heard a curse after it.

"I warned him… I'll be out there as soon as I get my mother and Kaede squared away. Expect me on the late train."

"I understand. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"You can explain this to me better when I get there. Good bye."

The two hung up and Bison took a deep breath. His questions hadn't been answered and he was sure that Kotetsu's brother had the same ones. Unable to do anything else, he made his way back to the waiting room and saw Barnaby sitting there with a slightly lost expression.

"What happened?!" Bison asked.

Barnaby jerked out of his day dream and looked up at Bison.

"Were… were you able to get in touch with Tiger's family?"

"Yes, I was. Now what happened?"

"He… he was having trouble breathing. They had to put him on a ventilator…That was after the seizure and his heart stopped."

Barnaby folded his hands together and placed his head on top of them. Bison cursed softly and took a seat beside the man. He did not want to be the one that told Kotetsu's brother all this, but he felt it'd be better coming from him. He looked up at the clock on the wall and counted how many hours he had until he had to pick up Kotetsu's brother. The two of them stood to their feet when the doctor made his way towards them.

"Had a little scare there, but we got him back." The doctor explained.

Barnaby released the breath he hadn't known he was holding. Bison said a little prayer and looked over at Barnaby.

"Thank you doctor. Oh, he's gonna have some friends that want to visit him. Should I just tell them to hold off for a while?"

"That would be wise. Until we can get him to his own room, out of ICU, it'd be wise to keep it family and next of kin only. As Mr. Brooks was the one to bring him in, we'd made special arrangements for him. If you'd like to keep it that he is allowed to see Mr. Tiger whenever he wants, or you want to change it, just let the nurse know."

Bison nodded, thanked the doctor again and then looked to Barnaby.

"Barnaby, I'm gonna need you to take me back to the tower so I can get my car. Gonna need it to pick up Tiger's brother."

Not knowing what else to do, Barnaby stood to his feet and lead the way out of the hospital and back to his car.

"I'll leave telling the others that they can't see Tiger right now up to you." Bison said after they'd reached the tower.

At first Barnaby wanted to object, but then realized this was a lot better than having to be the one to explain the situation to Tiger's brother so he nodded and the two got out of the vehicle.

"Guess I'll go see if there are any clues as to what happened while tiding up his place. I'm sure his brother's gonna stay there while Tiger's out of commission."

"Let me know if you need any help or anything. Keep us updated on Tiger's progress."

Bison and Barnaby shook hands before the two parted to go their separate ways. As expected, there was much protesting when Barnaby gave the message about not being able to see Tiger, but he was able to calm everyone down.

"I'm gonna go help Bison find out what happened since we can't get the story from Tiger. I guess you guys do what you've been doing."

The group nodded and Barnaby turned to leave. He was stopped by Blue Rose before he reached the door.

"You'll keep us updated about Tiger… right? You'll let us know if there's any change?"

"I'll let you know when I know." Barnaby said and left.

Once Bison retrieved his car, he headed over to Kotetsu's place and let himself into the apartment. He took a minute to look around and was sad about the situation his friend was in. He shook himself and then walked around to start cleaning up the apartment. Thankfully it wasn't too messy. As the reminder that they had been really busy the last few weeks swept over him, he sighed and waited for time to go pick up Kotetsu's brother.

-Tiger and Bunny-

"What exactly happened?" Muramasa asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Barnaby told us all the story and I told you." Bison said once he collected Muramasa from the train station.

They headed immediately towards the hospital. He had Barnaby on standby there to answer questions when they arrived.

"How's he look?"

"From what I last saw of him, it wasn't good. The doctor can explain that part to you more." Barnaby replied.

Bison and Muramasa made their way into the hospital and up to the ICU wing.

"Hi. Could you page Dr. Colter please?" Bison asked the nurse that was sitting at the nurses' desk.

"Oh, Mr. Bison. Certainly." The nurse responded.

The two didn't have to wait long before Dr. Colter showed.

"Ah, Dr. Colter this is Muramasa. Wild Tiger's brother." Bison introduced the two.

"I'm sorry we have to meet like this." Dr. Colter said.

He explained everything about Kotetsu and Muramasa could do nothing but listen. Barnaby listened and sighed. Bison took the liberty to visit Kotetsu in his room and frowned at what he saw.

"Um… Dr. Colter? Was Wild Tiger this pale when I saw him last?" Bison asked as he walked back out to the others.

Dr. Colter stood to his feet and made his way towards Bison to see what he was talking about. Barnaby made to follow as well as Muramasa to see how bad off his brother really was.

"Shit." Muramasa said once he saw his brother.

"Huh. That's odd…" Dr. Colter said before the alarms went off.

A nurse ran into the room to see what was going on and Dr. Colter quickly asked for assistance.

"He must have a tear somewhere inside. He's blood pressure is dropping. We need to get him to surgery immediately. Let the OR know and see what's available. Call me a few other nurses so that we can transport Mr. Tiger."

"Yes Doctor." The nurse replied and set off to do what was asked of her.

"What's going on?" Muramasa asked.

"I'm going to have to ask you gentlemen to wait for me back in the waiting room. I'm sorry." Dr. Colter said before moving around to check Tiger's other side.

The three were quickly ushered out of the room and the other nurses that came in helped to wheel the bed out of the room and towards the OR.

"What the hell is going on?!" Muramasa asked.

"I don't know, but we're gonna find out as soon as the doctor is able to tell us. It doesn't do either of us any good to get upset about something we don't know about. Besides, if something is wrong, I'd rather he takes all the time he needs to find out, fix it, and then come tell us about it." Bison responded.

Muramasa couldn't argue with that, but it didn't mean he liked it. The two of them took a seat and waited. At one point Muramasa got up to ask the nurse if the doctor had forgotten to come and tell them what was happening, but she calmly responded that the doctor was still in surgery. Bison went for coffee for the three of them and Bunny took time to explain what happened and what he remembered seeing when he got to Tiger.

"What the hell was he doing to get himself in this situation?" Muramasa asked.

"Knowing your brother, probably trying to save someone and it backfired." Bison commented.

They all winced at Bison's choice of words remembering that Tiger had been shot.

"Sorry." Bison said.

Muramasa sighed and stood up to pace. Sitting still wasn't doing anything for his nerves and neither was worrying. He thought to call his mother with an update, but realized he'd rather have an update to give her than the crap they knew now. Nothing, they knew nothing. He sighed once more and sat down again.

"Mr. Muramasa?" A nurse called from the station. "Dr. Colter is on his way."

"Thank you." Muramasa said and immediately stood in a place he could easily see the doctor.

Ten minutes later had the doctor and his team rolling Tiger back into his private room.

"What's the story Doc?" Bison asked.

"Give him a minute will you." Barnaby replied.

"Please have sit gentlemen." Dr. Colter said once he joined them in the waiting room.

He took a breath, clearly tired, but he had news to tell.

"Well, as previously thought, he had a hidden tear. This was located in his kidney. We'll be watching to make sure it continues to work correctly for the next 24 hours. It was very hard to locate, but we found it and another problem. Fixing both, we strongly believe Mr. Tiger will make a full recovery, with time."

Bison released the breath he was holding. Muramasa sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Barnaby felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Thank you, thank you doctor." Muramasa said gratefully. "I need to let my mother know. She's probably sitting by the phone waiting."

With that, he walked off to go call. Bison was unsure what to do, but figured he should also let the others know how things were going. The doctor stood to his feet and shook Barnaby and Bison's hands before turning and walking off. He was very glad he was able to give good news. Hero's were born, but he was personally a fan of Wild Tiger and felt it was his responsibility to make sure the man stayed alive.

"I'm gonna go call everyone and let them know." Bison spoke.

Barnaby startled a bit and nodded his head.

"I'm going to check on him." He replied and walked off to the room.

-Tiger & Bunny-

Three months had gone by before they allowed Tiger to leave the hospital. Had he not pulled stunts in order to get out sooner, he actually would've been out a little less than two months, but he kept pulling his stitches and a few days had been added as punishment.

"I'm free! Goodbye boring white painted walls. I will not miss you." Tiger shouted as he made his way out the doors of the hospital.

"Daddy!" Kaede screamed.

"Kaede, what are you doing here? Mom?" Tiger questioned.

"You were gone so long and Uncle Masa thought we should come see you." Kaede answered for herself and her grandmother.

Tiger raised an eyebrow in question to his brother, but reached down to scoop Kaede up. He winced as the motion pulled at a muscle that wasn't completely healed yet, but he didn't care.

"Of all the half brained schemes you've pulled. I have to say this was the worst. Who will watch over poor Kaede after you've killed me with another heart attack?" Mrs. Kaburagi questioned.

Kaede squeezed the arms she had wrapped around her father's neck. He merely scratched his head in embarrassment and sighed.

"I wasn't trying to kill you Mother. I was doing my job. I just happened to be trying to help someone at the time and I was out numbered. I'm sorry."

"Well, if there is a next time, you make sure you're not alone."

"Yes, ma'am." Tiger replied shifting Kaede and wincing again.

"Come here Kaede. You know you're getting too big for that." Muramasa commented.

"I know, but I really missed him." Kaede responded as she was handed over to her Uncle.

Kotetsu had to admit, even though he was out of the hospital, he was still really sore. They all piled into Muramasa's van and headed off to Tiger's place.

"I'm really glad you're okay Daddy." Kaede said softly.

"Me too." Tiger responded.

Once they arrived at his home, everyone went inside. Tiger went straight for the couch and sat down making sure to leave room for his mother. Muramasa went into the kitchen to see if there was anything edible in there and sighed when he saw nothing. Kaede sat down in the chair opposite her father and grandmother and closed her eyes, falling asleep. Mrs. Kaburagi sat down next to her son and saw that he had also fallen asleep. She sighed as she looked at her youngest and sent up a silent prayer of thanks. She took the blanket from off the back of the couch and placed it on him.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to go out to get us something to eat. Anything in particular you want to eat Mom?" Muramasa asked as he exited the kitchen and headed for the front door.

"No. Whatever you get will be fine."

Muramasa stood there a minute looking at his brother as he slept.

"He really was lucky."

"That he was."

They both watched as Tiger winced and turned trying to get a little more comfortable before he settled again with a soft sigh.

"That he was."

I hope you enjoyed. Let me know either way. Until next time...