The two Doctors felt rather proud of themselves when they triumphantly returned to the Manor. However, the overall atmosphere only seemed to dampen their exuberance. And when they learned about what had happened to Wasabi, Data, Deana, and GoGo, they both wisely chose not to mention anything about their day.
When asked, one merely shrugged while the other simply said, "Oh, it was a bit of a wibbly wobbly one." And neither had the extra TARDIS with them, which had been the point of the whole mission in the first place.
"Couldn't get her out," the blue clad Doctor admitted. "She's stuck tight until she wants free."
That comment earned the both of them some odd looks from the Enterprise crew. Q seemed rather intrigued by the idea though, and was about to ask for more details when Worf rounded on him. He'd been sulking ever since. To be fair, Worf had kept him on a very tight leash as of late.
By the time the evening meal was ready, several members of their group were more than ready to call it a day. Deanna's neck and shoulders still hurt from the accident. GoGo was no longer seeing double, but her head was killing her. And Wasabi hadn't come out of his room since he'd gone there after returning to the Manor. Data, for his part, was still unaffected by events, other than to observe just how much of a disappointment it was that it had brought things to an end sooner than he'd have liked.
At the table once more, Hiro played with his mashed potatoes and peas, driving the little green orbs around his plate like cars. He looked just as bored as he felt. And even the sliced chicken couldn't lighten his mood. If he was being honest, he'd admit to feeling a strange sort of buzzing in his head but didn't have the words to express it.
"Looks like someone's sulking," Honey Lemon whispered to Deanna, who couldn't help but look up at the comment.
Since the party had increased in size, they'd opted to move back into the dining room for the more formal meals, mainly dinner. Even so, they didn't take up even half of the long table, mostly because no one wanted to maintain too large of a gap between their neighbors.
Deanna observed the young boy as he scowled at his plate. She'd noticed him acting more and more like a two-year-old, and less like a more mature teen-aged leader. This was decidedly disconcerting. "It definitely looks like it, doesn't it? We're going to have to do something soon or he might just revert back to this age permanently."
Her comment caused those nearest her to look up, mainly Fred, Baymax, and Honey. Hiro, though close, ignored all of them as he continued to push his peas around his plate. He had way too much on his mind to bother with idle chatter. He'd felt a funny sense of pressure since the others had come back and it was more than distracting. He just couldn't figure out what it was. The buzzing didn't help, making him feel almost nauseous.
"Hiro," Honey worried, "You really should eat something." She reached for his smaller spoon, only to have him knock her hand away
"No!" Hiro gave her an angry glare, mashed potatoes now on his nose.
Honey tried again, wondering what had gotten into her friend. "Hiro, please," she begged. "Please try something." She moved the spoon towards his mouth once more.
This time Hiro slammed his hand against hers, knocking the spoon to the floor. But he didn't stop there. A rage seemed to build inside his tiny body, his whole frame shaking with it. Then he let out a huge scream as he picked up his plate and threw it as far as his little arms would let him.
Hearing his outburst, all eyes turned to the boy at the end of the table. Several mouths fell open in shock at the childish display. Those whose jaws hadn't hit the floor stared in frozen horror as mashed potatoes flew all over the table and onto those nearest the child.
"NO!" Hiro shrieked again as he grabbed the tiny fork near his seat and threw that, along with anything else he could reach. His sippy cup flew into the air, somehow coming unscrewed so juice flew out across the room in a sticky fountain of deep purple. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"
Once he ran out of ammunition, he started pounding on the table, making his booster seat strain against the straps holding it in place. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he stared out in horror at what he'd done but couldn't seem to make his body calm down. Something had snapped and it didn't want to go back together again.
Fred was the first out of his seat, wiping potatoes from his cheek as he walked over to the screaming child. "Hey, Hiro, just calm down, okay?" He leaned closer so he could look directly into the raging toddler's face. "There's no reason to get so upset."
Hiro reached for Fred's hair, pulling him close enough for him to bite him on the nose. Hard.
Fred instinctively swung one hand to break Hiro's hold on him, accidentally hitting the toddler across the face, causing the child to let go. The otaku fell to the ground from the unexpected force, his eyes wide as he stared up at the tantrum-raving boy. The chair his booster seat was attached to wobbled. "Hiro..."
The unexpected smack momentarily stunned the young genius and he stared back at the man who'd administered it. Seeing the damage he'd inflicted, and feeling the sting of the blow, Hiro couldn't help but burst into inconsolable tears. Things were not going how they were supposed to at all. He had no idea why he felt so emotionally unstable, and knowing he'd done something he shouldn't didn't help. But he hadn't seemed able to stop himself. It was almost as if something else had momentarily taken over his body and made him cause havoc in the dining room.
"Oh no," Baymax commented as Honey moved to help Fred up off the floor. "I believe Hiro has experienced a sensory overload."
Deanna handed Honey Lemon her napkin so she could help clean off Fred's face. "Perhaps it would be wise to take Hiro into the other room until he can calm down," she suggested gently. She had mashed potatoes down one arm and in her hair.
Taking the counselor's advice, Baymax unbuckled the sobbing tot. He picked him up, cradling him as close to his vinyl skin as possible. "Counselor," he said as he turned to look at Troi for a moment. "I believe you are correct. Hiro is reverting more to his physical age." With that, he turned and left the room with his young charge.
Q, who sat at the far end of the table near Worf, began eating again. When the silence didn't abate, he looked up. He scowled at the looks directed his way. "What? The tantrum is over and I'm starving. He'll be fine soon enough." Almost doggedly, he continued to eat his meal, ignoring the staring throng.
Both Doctors exchanged glances. "This is far more serious than either of us imagined," the blue clad one commented to the other.
"Agreed," his companion answered back.
.........................................
With Baymax busy trying to calm Hiro down, Honey felt honor-bound to help Fred with his injury. Even though she was sure Hiro hadn't meant it, he'd managed to break the skin on Fred's nose with his teeth, causing a trickle of blood to appear at each of the different teeth marks.
Now in the nearest bathroom, Honey dabbed at the swollen nose with a washcloth. "At least he didn't take an actual chunk out of it," she comforted.
Fred sat on the toilet, the lid closed. This was one of the smaller bathrooms. Meant mostly as a powder room, it only had the toilet and a sink set in a small counter space. But at least there was a first aid kit handy, which he'd pulled out for her to use. "I'm not mad at him or anything," he said, sounding more than a little down. "I mean, he's been through a lot. And if he really is regressing like they say, he's got a lot of emotion in there he doesn't know how to handle. I'd probably throw a tantrum too if I were in his shoes."
Honey was just about to apply some antiseptic to the wound when GoGo entered the small room. She leaned against the door frame, looking bored. "Hey, Honey, Baymax asked for you." She indicated the area behind her with a nod of her head. "I'll take over in here."
Giving both of them a rather apologetic smile, Honey excused herself. She all but breezed out of the door in search of the healthcare robot and his young charge.
GoGo let out her breath as she stared at Fred's redder than usual nose. "Really did a number on you, didn't he?" Still looking as disinterested as ever, she pushed away from the wall and retrieved the antiseptic wipe Honey had set aside upon leaving the room.
"Yeah," Fred replied, his face falling even more. "I can't help but think we don't have that much time, you know what I mean?"
Taking Fred's face in her hands, GoGo looked into his eyes, the wipe set aside for the moment. "Hey, we're going to find a way to return him to normal. Even if we don't get Q's powers back, there's got to be a way."
Fred looked into her eyes as if searching them for some kind of answer. GoGo's hands were still on his face, gently holding him still. And her eyes were depth-less pools that he wanted to drown in. Without thinking, he moved his face closer to hers, tilting his head ever so slightly. Before he made contact with her lips, however, he pulled back, looking awkward. "Uh... sorry about that. I didn't mean..." He looked away in embarrassment.
But before he had the chance to really apologize, he felt her hands grab his face once more, pulling him back towards her. Then her lips were against his in a manner a lot more forceful than he'd planned only moments earlier. But when she pulled away from him, he saw stars and fireworks shooting off in his head. Almost hesitantly, he licked his lips. "Uh... GoGo...?" He could taste a faint hint of her chap stick, something that reminded him of cherries.
"Oh shut up," GoGo responded, sounding gruff as she picked up the wipe once more and placed it on his nose.
Fred couldn't help but pull back at the abrupt stinging of his wounded appendage. "Ow!"
GoGo winced a little at that, her hand jerking away. "Sorry," she apologized as she hesitantly moved the cloth back towards his face. "We can keep that just between the two of us, okay?"
Fred looked back into her eyes, not sure what he saw, but there was a hint of that usual gruff nature she liked to hide behind. "Uh, sure," he agreed, still in a bit of shock from the whole incident. "Yeah. Probably better that way."
GoGo rolled her eyes. "Not a word," she ordered as she finished cleaning him up, then put a medicated band aide over his injury. "Got it?"
The otaku pulled back just a little at the intensity in her eyes. Despite her tone, he couldn't help but feel a little like he was floating. Maybe Hiro being a toddler wasn't entirely a bad thing after all.
...................................
When Honey Lemon entered the small sitting room where she'd been told Baymax was, she wasn't entirely prepared for what met her eyes. Yes, she'd expected Hiro to still be crying. Why else would Baymax request her presence? But what she hadn't expected to see was the young boy kicking and screaming on the carpet, his face red from screaming.
"What happened?" Honey inquired as she glanced at Baymax. It took her a moment to realize Deanna was also in the room.
Troi stood up from her place on a sofa, walking around the irate child to join Honey. "We're not really sure. The only real emotion I can clearly identify is frustration, tinged with a great deal of fear and outrage."
Hiro's screaming was more sob-filled than it had been at the table. All the same, it wasn't a pretty sight. His face was getting redder as he pounded away at the carpet, his little arms and legs flailing. He was so caught up in the moment he had no way out of it.
Honey couldn't help but feel shocked at this behavior. He'd seemed fine earlier that day. What had changed? Or had anything changed at all? It was hard to say. "Baymax," she called out to the healthcare bot, "what happened when you brought him in here?"
Baymax shuffled closer, also avoiding the flailing arms. "Hiro continued to sob as I left the dining room," he stated. "When we entered this room, his entire body went stiff for several seconds. I set him down so I could go retrieve his blanket. However, as soon as he was on the ground, he began to exhibit the behavior you see now. I have not left him the entire time."
At that moment, Hiro let out a particularly ear-piercing shriek before flopping back against the ground in a heaving heap. His chest rose and fell with labored breathing as he rolled over onto his back and just stared up at the ceiling. His eyes seemed unfocused, his body listless.
"Hiro?" Honey asked hesitantly as she pushed her hair back behind her ear. She cautiously moved closer, bending down to his level. "Are you okay?"
Hiro's chest continued to heave as he stared upwards with unblinking eyes. His little body shivered when she gently touched his arm. He closed his eyes, keeping them closed for several long seconds before opening them once more. His eyes still gleamed with tears waiting to be shed. "Want Dashi," he finally said, his young voice trembling. "Whewe Dashi?"
Honey couldn't help but look up at Baymax and Deanna with a pained expression. "Please don't tell me his memory is also reverting," she pleaded.
"Whewe Dashi!" Hiro screamed. "Want Dashi! Want Dashi!" He couldn't explain it, even if he'd tried, but somehow, Hiro felt pain all over. Behind his closed eyes, he saw images flashing so rapidly he couldn't grasp them. And none of them made sense. Why did he see himself being pummeled by Yama's men? And why wasn't Tadashi there to soothe it all away?
Troi looked back down at the distraught child. "Hiro's emotional stability has decidedly taken a turn for the worst," she answered Honey's inquiry. "As for his mental capacity, it's entirely possible his brain is trying to compensate for the change by suppressing certain memories. Without further resources, I can't honestly say what's going on."
Tears leaked out of the corner of Honey's eyes. "How do we tell him Tadashi isn't coming?"
The counselor looked up at that, understanding flickering behind her eyes. "That's right," she said slowly as she sat down on the nearest chair. "You told me Tadashi died in a fire."
"Want Dashi!" Hiro continued to sniffle, his energy slowly wearing down. He curled up onto his side, the first three fingers of his right hand in his mouth as he sucked on them. His small frame continued to shake with each hiccupping sob.
After several minutes of relative silence, Hiro nodded off, more than worn out. Deanna let out a sigh. "I wish I could tell you one way or another if this is a temporary setback or not," she said, breaking the ice. "Something obviously happened to trigger this but I don't know what."
Baymax tilted his head as he scanned the sleeping boy. "I failed to mention that when the second episode occurred, Hiro did exhibit some unusual brain activity."
Not wanting to wake the sleeping boy, Deanna motioned for them to step out into the hall. Chances were good if he woke up again, he'd be right back at it. And that couldn't be good for his emotional well-being. "What do you mean?" she asked, the door now partially closed behind them.
The robot seemed to consider her question for a moment before answering. "When Hiro went rigid, I detected a change in brain wave activity," he admitted. "Upon further consideration, it is possible there was a slight increase in energy levels similar to those present when he reverted to his current form."
With her one good hand, Deanna grasped the robot's shoulder. Her entire body was tense as she looked into his hyper-spectral eyes. "Are you sure?"
Baymax blinked slowly as he reevaluated the stored information. "Yes," he answered after only a few seconds' pause. "The increase was of a smaller level than previous encounters. However, it is possible that increase caused this episode."
But before Deanna could make any further inquiries, a bright light seemed to emanate from the room they'd just vacated. The closest one to the door, the counselor had to shield her eyes as the light intensified before going out.
Only a few paces away, Honey Lemon couldn't help but step forward. "What in the world?" Honey asked as she also shielded her eyes.
Baymax turned towards the room in question, his eyes scanning the room. "Oh no," he uttered.
"What do you mean by 'oh no'?" Honey asked hesitantly, her stomach already feeling heavier than usual. Something bad had obviously just happened, otherwise Baymax wouldn't have said that.
Baymax moved to the door as he spoke. "I am no longer detecting Hiro's presence." With one swift push, the door opened and the two women crowded behind him to look inside.
All eyes focused on the floor in front of them. The area where Hiro had been sleeping only moments before was empty.
................................
James stared at the now occupied back seat of the small car he'd "borrowed". He couldn't believe his eyes. It just wasn't possible. And yet it was.
Only hours before, he'd been pacing the back alleys, stewing over various ideas that had swarmed in his head. Going to that upscale shopping center had changed something. For whatever reason, he thought it was all connected somehow. He just couldn't begin to understand how. But here was the answer to all his problems. Providing he didn't get caught.
Preparation had taken longer than he'd anticipated, once he'd decided on his course of action. It was the only one that made sense, especially after he'd seen that young father flashing around that gold card of his, and his presumed wife taking it. And with such a young child... well, it was perfect. Who wouldn't want to move heaven and earth to get back their infant son? Besides, they both looked like total pushovers.
So, with ideas swirling around in his head, and having heard the name Whitmore thrown around, he'd done some research. That research landed him in front of the Whitmore Manor. If those guys could afford such a large house, surely there was more than enough to spread around. And, ever since he'd chosen this line of action, his powers were more inclined to give him what he wanted.
First, he'd requested a place to store the little brat. The energy had taken him to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was near the area where they'd had a total burnout only months before. No one in their right mind would look for anyone there. Add to that the fact that he'd somehow conjured up a decent room to store the kid in so he wouldn't hurt himself too badly... well, it was all coming together.
The next step, of course, had been in getting a way to transport the child. Even if his newfound abilities wanted to cooperate, he doubted he'd be able to wish the kid safely transported over a dozen kilometers without something coming up. The solution was easy access to a car someone had left running while running into a convenient store. He'd just got behind the wheel and drove off.
And, with his mojo working, he'd managed to change the vehicle's color and plates without anyone the wiser, and at no cost to him either. So even if the owner did declare it stolen, they wouldn't easily recognize it even if they came across it. Not unless they looked at the VIN, which he wasn't going to let happen.
An almost giddy laugh escaped James' lips as he looked at the back seat once more. He was tempted to do a little dance but didn't. He might wake the child. It didn't matter that he didn't even know the youth's name. He had him and that's what counted. At last, things were going right.
Turning back to face the front, James snatched up the envelope he'd prepared beforehand. He'd taken the necessary precaution of wearing gloves so none of his fingerprints would show on the paper. He'd also used water to seal the envelope as a similar precaution. He'd watched too many crime dramas to make that mistake.
Glad he'd chosen to wear black, James did his best to blend in with the shadows. Either luck was on his side, or something else, but he managed to make it to the front step of the Manor without anyone noticing, or at least making a comment. He then quietly left the envelope on the doormat and returned to the car.
Hugging himself, James got back behind the wheel and put on his seat belt. He'd have to drive slowly to make sure he didn't wake the boy up, though he doubted there would be any problems. Luck was on his side. And so were the green lights. He almost leapt for joy but stopped himself. One, he'd hit his head on the roof. Two, he didn't have room. But there was plenty of time for that later. He'd lead them on a goose chase first, then he'd ask for the payout.