A Complicated Web

Chapter Five: Geek Out

The elevator chimed, indicating they'd arrived at the specified floor as the doors slid open once more. "I think they may be right," Honey hedged. "It wouldn't hurt to at least look around."

"I think that would be an excellent idea, Miss Honey," JARVIS said, momentarily startling everyone. They'd managed to convince the artificial butler to use their nicknames instead of their real names. It was less confusing that way. That and it felt a lot less formal, something Hiro was more comfortable with than being constantly called Mr. Hamada. (That's what Professor Callaghan had called his brother and it felt weird for others to call him that.) Well, mostly. JARVIS still insisted on using "miss" when addressing Honey Lemon or GoGo.

After everyone agreed to the plan, they dispersed to their various rooms. GoGo and Honey shared one guest room. Wasabi shared one with Fred. Hiro had a smaller room with Baymax. Not that any one room was really small, because they weren't. They were huge, even by Fred's standards. And they were either right next to each other or across the hall from each other. It helped that each room had its own bathroom, though that did mean they had to take turns, except for Hiro. But they'd grown so used to sharing spaces it didn't seem necessary to request separate rooms.

When the teen genius entered his room, he glanced over at Baymax's case. He felt gross after riding in the car for hours on end. A shower would be just the thing. Baymax could wait a little longer to be reactivated. That and Hiro wasn't entirely sure he'd finished charging. Despite not being active, he did still use some juice when in sleep mode if his charger wasn't plugged in. That and he was still trying to get his emotions under control after the absent-minded comments about his brother.

Thirty glorious minutes later, he returned to the main part of his room, much cleaner, a little red from the heat of the water, and a lot less sore. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub and he had taken full advantage of it. Who said he couldn't enjoy a few creature comforts? But now that he was clean, in clean clothes, he faced Baymax's charging station once more and said the one word sure to activate him. "Ow."

There was a rush of air as the case unfolded and Baymax inflated at record speed. "Hello, Hiro," Baymax greeted the moment he was fully inflated. "Have we arrived at our destination?" He stepped free of the charger when Hiro nodded, looking around as he blinked a few times. "This building appears to be secure." One thing Hiro had insisted on adding was a feature to detect security systems. "I also detect multiple life signs on this level alone that do not include Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Fred, or GoGo."

"I hope so," Hiro laughed. "This is Stark Tower and sort of Avengers headquarters. It had better be secure. If not, my aunt might have a conniption fit." He ran a hand through his still damp hair, pushing it out of his eyes. No matter how many times anyone told him he should get a haircut, he just couldn't seem to quite bring himself to do it. Part of it was because he was lazy about the whole "looking good" thing. But another part was because he liked it. It helped sell the whole "innocent kid" look, which he thought was one of his biggest weapons. It helped that he still looked younger than he really was.

Someone knocked on the door moments before he reached it. It turned out to be Wasabi, checking in on him to make sure he was ready to go. Fred was bouncing up and down again not far behind him. GoGo and Honey were also waiting for them, each wearing a fresh outfit, though none of them seemed to have damp hair. Even Fred had cleaned up a little.

"I hope you're ready for some amazing food," Fred gushed as Hiro led Baymax out of his room. "Because no matter if Tony cooked or had something catered, the food will be amazing!" He continued on this line as they headed towards the elevators, the mascot pushing the button for the appropriate floor. "Seriously, though, the food here is top notch."

Wasabi couldn't help but look around a bit warily as they exited on a completely different-looking floor. Whereas the previous floor had almost resembled a hotel, this one decidedly looked more personal, like an apartment or something. Maybe it was the penthouse because there was a short entrance-way before they entered into what could be seen as either a recreational area or an open bar, except no one was tending the bar area.

"This way, guys," Fred called as he led them past the long counter and through another door. "I think they wanted to keep things pretty low key today so I'm willing to bet they'll be waiting for us in Tony's private kitchen. Am I right, JARVIS?" He glanced upward, as if the invisible butler would magically appear if he did.

"As astute as ever," JARVIS replied. "I will inform them of your arrival."

Baymax tilted his head in curiosity. "I do not detect any life signs that can be associated with this voice," he admitted. "Is JARVIS a person?"

Hiro laughed. "No. I guess he's Tony's version of you, except without the huggable vinyl body and killer medical skills."

"I see," Baymax replied to that. He blinked as his scanner took in all the different aspects of the area they walked through. Though he had not been originally programmed to look for electronic devices, it was something he had learned to do once they'd created the Big Hero team. It helped a lot on their various missions, especially since he had the ability to see through most materials. "I am Baymax," he introduce himself as he gave a little wave, pausing to do. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," JARVIS replied as they passed through a short hallway. "Miss Potts and the others are waiting for you just ahead." With that, he went silent.

Fred seemed to do a little victory dance. "Oh yeah! This is so cool! Not only did you get to meet Iron Man, but now you get to meet his girlfriend! She's also like the CEO of Stark Industries!"

Tony came up behind them from one side as they entered the room. "It's not like," he corrected. "She is the CEO, and a really good one at that, right, Pepper?" He flashed an affectionate grin her way. She stood on the other end of the dining area they'd entered.

Pepper Potts walked forward, giving Tony a playful smack to the chest, her cheeks slightly red. "Flatterer," she teased before moving towards their guests. "Welcome. I'm Pepper Potts, but you can call me Pepper. I hope you had a safe trip. I also hope you're hungry because we've got a lot of food ready for you." She turned to indicate the far counter with food laid out buffet style.

GoGo nodded in appreciation. "They're not holding anything back, are they," she commented as she moved towards the food. There was a very nice selection of various food truck offerings. And, from the looks of things, none of the food present showed any signs of containing peanuts, leading her to believe they'd done their homework. Someone had to look out for Hiro, after all.

Baymax waddled forward, drawing Tony Stark's attention. "Hello," he greeted the man. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

Tony couldn't help but blink at the robot. "Is this the robot you were talking about?" he glanced over at Fred, only to get a nod in return. He began to circle the inflatable marshmallow. "Not bad, not bad," he mumbled. "Carbon fiber by the looks of it. Vinyl?" He glanced up at Hiro with raised brows, who hadn't moved towards the food just yet.

Hiro shrugged. "Yeah. It was my brother's original design, though I've improved on it a bit since then. I made the vinyl thicker so it won't tear as easily and reinforced the interior structure for greater stability. That and it just kind of makes him more huggable and non-threatening, you know?"

"Relax, kid," Tony said as he ruffled Hiro's hair. "I'm not criticizing. Just intrigued. I've never actually seen a healthcare bot that worked. You said your brother designed him?"

Hiro shrugged. "He did all of the programming and initial work. Like I said, I just improved on the exterior stuff."

The genius billionaire nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Well, I guess if something goes wrong while you're here, we all know who to contact."

Wasabi passed them with a loaded plate, even with his food carefully placed for maximum space and separation of different foods. "Are you guys going to talk shop all afternoon or are you actually going to join us?"

Giving a bit of a sheepish laugh, Hiro ducked around his idol to join the rest of his friends at the buffet table. He was hungry. He just didn't want his stomach grumbling loud enough to alert the rest of the group to that point. That and there was plenty of time to geek over each others' various creations later.