A/N: Here in Singapore, we celebrate Chinese New Year. This is my chapter for this occasion. 恭禧发财 to all.

Thanks to mildirk, Bane767 and () -(nice name) for reviewing.

Chapter 6: Recollection III

While Mittens was dreaming about the events during the cross-country trip, Rhino was having his little fantasy about being a hero. At the same time, strangely enough, Bolt and Penny were having the exact same dream. Perhaps it was because they went through a similar experience through the fire, or maybe it was because they were very closely bonded to begin with, but somehow, they dreamt the exact same thing.

It was after the grand incineration of the studio.

That was…right after the fire…

Penny's mind was foggy. The world was rushing by in bits and pieces as a cacophony of sounds blared through her ears. Sirens, screaming, shouting, chattering—all being pumped into her eardrums. She couldn't move—not that she felt like it anyway—and she couldn't see. She felt like her lungs were on fire, although the pain was slowly starting to subside. She gulped down the fresh air being supplied to her gratefully. With every breath, a little more of the fog cleared, and the questions that formed in her head were slowly answered. Suddenly, it all came rushing back. The filming. The fire. Bolt.

Bolt! Is he safe? Is he alright?

Coughing, she cracked open her eyes barely, unaccustomed to the bright light pouring into her retina. That was when she saw him. A man dressed in yellow was carrying him. He appeared unconscious, and Penny was starting to fear the worst. But as if he sensed her fears, his limp tail wagged slowly, a steadfast indication that he was alright.

"Bolt…" she whispered. Words could not describe her immense relief at seeing him safe.

"Sweetie!" Her mom pushed through a crowd of people, desperate to see her daughter safe. "You're okay! You gotta be okay…you're going to be just fine…"

"She's stable, but we're going to take her to the hospital, just to be safe." Nobody noticed Mittens or Rhino silently stowing away underneath the stretcher.

As the firemen loaded her into the ambulance, Penny vaguely recalled her agent getting in with her mom. She vaguely recalled him being thrown out by her mom, and she vaguely recalled both of them grinning all the way to the hospital.

They had sent Bolt to the vet for a check-up to ensure he was alright, and now it was 9 at night. Moonlight flitted into the room through the windows in Penny's ward, which was a first class ward, the most expensive and well-equipped class of ward in the hospital. It was fully carpeted, and well furnished. The television was a flat screen LCD that sat above a mahogany table, which was the standing place of a crystal vase, with some strange flowers Penny did not recognise. The entire room looked more like a suite than a hospital room. It was her mom that insisted she get good treatment, although Penny thought this was going a little far.

The doctors had declared her to be fine, although they insisted that she spend the night there to recuperate as she was still rather weak from the smoke asphyxiation. Of course, there was a significant problem with that arrangement.

"What do you mean I can't see him?" Penny demanded.

"I'm sorry, but hospital rules don't allow animals to be brought in." came the reply from the presiding nurse.

"But he could be looking for me! Do you know I lost him for weeks because someone wouldn't let me see him?" Penny gave her a sharp glare. The nurse blanched a little.

"I truly am sorry, but rules are rules." As she turned to go, there was a sudden flurry of excitement outside the room. Penny leaned forward in her bed, trying to get a view out of the door.

"How the hell did a cat get to the fifth floor of a hospital?" A man yelled from outside.

"Just shut up and find it!" Another barked back.

The nurse slowly closed the door.

"So what happened to the 'no animals' rule?" Penny asked, smirking.

"Just went out the window." They both laughed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'll see if I can sneak him in here. By the way, he's Bolt right? The Bolt? From the tv show?"

"Yeah," Penny replied. But not anymore, I guess.

The nurse smiled. "I thought so. My kids love to watch it. How about this: I'll get him in here if you can give me three signed pictures for my children."

It was a generous offer. "Sure."

"Thanks." she left the room.

Although this was unknown to Penny, somewhere else on the fifth floor of the hospital, some other people were blatantly breaking the hospital rules.

"It looks like…we're not very welcome here," Rhino stated, gasping for breath.

"Gee, ya think?" Mittens snapped back, also out of breath. They had somehow narrowly avoided being caught by hospital staff, and were now hiding in a storage closet that was conveniently left ajar.

"We lost Bolt. I have no idea where he is. I think I heard something like, they were going to bring him to the vet or something."

"How is it that we lost sight of Bolt when he was right on top of us?" Mittens exclaimed. Rhino shrugged.

"I don't know. But there's no time to worry about that. We have to find Bolt quickly! He might need some backup just in case the green-eyed man launches a counterattack."

Mittens stared in disbelief. Somehow, Rhino had held firm to his belief that Bolt had superpowers throughout the entire cross-country trip, even though it was painfully obvious he didn't.

Did we never explain to him that Bolt's life was a lie? Mittens felt a little guilty of that. She and Bolt were prone to ignoring him and his antics many times over during their travels. She made a mental note that after all the dust had settled, she would sit him down and explain to him—clearly—the truth. But for now, they had to focus on finding Bolt.

"You're right, Rhino. We need to find Bolt soon. Come on, let's—" she stopped suddenly, her ears twitching. Someone was coming!

"Rhino, Hide!" She whispered as footsteps approached. But before they could conceal themselves, someone had pushed opened the door. It was a young man with thin spiked blond hair. He was an orderly, and he was carrying a large cardboard box with both of his hands. He almost dropped it when he saw them.

"What the heck?" He blurted.

Mittens immediately bolted for the door, trying to slip under his legs. Unfortunately for her, his legs had buckled at the sight of her running towards him and he lost his grip on the box. It tumbled and crashed onto the ground, blocking her exit, while also sending various pieces of hospital equipment flying and clattering across the room.

Rhino ducked as a scalpel sailed past his head. There were other pieces of equipment: A stethoscope, some syringes, empty vials and bottles—the standard stuff you would expect to find in a hospital. And they were all tumbling around, most of them breaking on impact. The loud crunch of glass was clear to all of them.

Mittens had just narrowly avoided the falling box and the flying shrapnel as it crashed onto the hard linoleum floor. The man had also fallen with the box and landed in front of her. That was when she got a good look at him. He had blue eyes that seemed to radiate bewilderment, while his skin was smooth, like that of a baby. He had a white frock with a nametag clipped on his breast pocket. It read: Lexus Quirk. He was apparently an orderly here in the hospital. He did not look amused.

"Why you little—" He reached out and grabbed Mittens with his hands. She struggled, but he gripped her tightly. She couldn't breathe. She bit him in the wrist, causing him to wince, but otherwise still hold fast. He looked for a way to contain the mangy cat, and he decided that the now half-empty box filled with glass shards and fragments would suffice.

But as he raised his arms to throw her in, he felt a sharper, more distinct pain in his wrist. He yelled and twisted his arms, only to see that the hamster had sunk his teeth into his fleshy wrist. He only loosened his grip for a moment, but it was enough for Mittens to squirm free and dash out of the room, Rhino following close behind.

Orderly Lexus didn't spend too much time in shock or in pain. He scrambled to his feet and dashed after the animals that had somehow snuck into the California General Hospital. So much for our hospital's airtight security, he thought. It had been infiltrated by people with no form of stealth technology whatsoever.

Mittens had only run a few metres before the angry shouts of the orderly pierced the air. She wondered why no patients were coming out of their rooms to investigate the ruckus. It would have made a nice distraction. Rhino had finally caught up, but he was having difficulty running without his ball.

She flashed him a silent thank you for the assist before focusing on the corridor ahead. This was supposed to be a simple hospital visit, but somehow it had degenerated into a senseless game of cat and mouse. Being the mouse in this case, she did not find the irony amusing.

Nurse Adrian Anderson had seen many undesirable things as a nurse, but she had to take it all in as she worked day by day. The pay was peanuts compared to a doctor's salary, but this was all she could do to earn money. Having three children to raise by herself was not easy, but she believed that she could do it. The only problem was that she couldn't earn enough to meet all their needs, and that brought her great sadness.

But today, she hoped that she could bring a smile onto their faces with their favourite hero's autograph.

The vet's office was conveniently located next to the hospital, so walking was no problem for her. She had donned a simple cap to shield her from a light drizzle as she moved across the cool night. It was only when she stood at the front door that the thought occurred to her:

How am I supposed to pull this off?

If her boss caught her breaking the rules for some autograph, she could probably kiss her job goodbye. But then again, a cat did get that far in, and besides, visiting hours were almost over at the hospital, so if she moved quietly enough, she could bring him in through the staff elevator at the back of the hospital without anyone noticing.

She entered, her confidence rising. The man at the counter, a small portly man with thick black hair, raised his head and broke into a smile.

"Miss Anderson! What brings you here?"

"Just checking on one of your patients, Matt. I think you might know him. You know the white shepherd, Bolt?"

"Ahh…a real fine specimen, that one." He raised his head high, like a proud father talking about his new-born son. "You know, it's extremely rare to see one with such a smooth pure white coat. He's really been well cared for."

"That's nice, Matt," she said, not really caring about his words. She had nothing personal against him, but if you gave him even the slightest look of interest, he'd blab on and on about random things until you wished you had something to impale him with. She had made that mistake once. It never happened again.

"Aw, you don't have to be so mean, Adrian. Say, your shift ends in an hour, right? How about we go grab some supper later?"

Adrian knew his words weren't some attempt at a flirtatious come-on—he was just trying to be nice. He tried to be nice to everyone he met, but somehow, people just wouldn't want to associate themselves with him. But that was most likely due to his flamboyant personality. It was quite pitiful, really.

"Matt, I'll go out with you for supper if you can do me a favour." She hoped she wasn't going to regret this.

He brightened tenfold after those words. "Sure! What is it?"

"I need you to help me bring Bolt into the hospital. Specifically, room 74 on level 5."

"Wait, are you kidding? You want me to sneak an animal into a human hospital? Do you know what would happen if we're caught?"

"I do. But just do me a favour, okay? You want supper, don't you?"

Matt threw up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, just don't blame me if they give you the pink slip. How're you planning on not getting caught, anyway?" Adrian smiled.

"You'll see." With that, she strode past him and into the adjacent room where Bolt was being held.

Bolt was fast asleep. His body had taken quite a beating from the smoke in the fire. He had a few cuts on his legs as proof. He had used up the last of his strength to call out for help in his last moments of consciousness, but he still struggled with full force when they tried to separate him from Penny. They had to sedate him—with permission from Penny—to get him to the vet and now he was cleaned up, bandaged nicely and fast asleep on a bed.

That is, until Adrian entered the room.

Bolt stirred, his eyes opening and focusing on the new visitor. The sedative they had administered had worn off and he was now awake, albeit still very groggy and disoriented.

"Hey boy," Adrian walked up slowly so as not to intimidate him. "You want to see Penny, don't ya?" Bolt's tail wagged back and forth, as he glanced up at the mysterious blurry woman who had offered to take him to his person.

"Alright then, let's do this."

"Why…won't…he…give up!" Rhino grunted, trying his best to keep pace with Mittens.

"Rhino! Are you okay?" Mittens called from in front.

"I'm…fine…don't worry about…" He trailed off, collapsing onto the ground.

"Rhino!" She stopped mid-stride and doubled back to him. He was panting, gasping for oxygen to fill his lungs, which wasn't fast enough to make up for the oxygen debt he incurred. His eyes were glassy and his body was trembling.

The orderly was in sight and getting closer. Mittens didn't wait for him to get close. She threw the defeated hamster on her back and sprinted off again.

"Hang on!"

They cut through corridors and walkways randomly until Mittens herself was gasping and feeling like collapsing herself. Rhino was too tired to say anything—being fat had its disadvantages. At least, there were no other people on the same floor, other than that enraged orderly. Mittens was thankful for that.

"Can't…breathe…" Rhino gasped, trying his hardest to hold on to Mittens. She was worried about him, but she had a bigger issue to address.

But no matter how many turns and twist she made, the orderly managed to keep pace. The shouts were increasing in volume now. Mittens could understand why. They had broken perhaps a few thousand dollars' worth of equipment, and they had left a nasty mark on his wrist. Mittens sensed it was the latter that angered him more.

As a familiar corridor zoomed past them, Mittens suddenly realised she was running out of places to run. She didn't know the layout of the hospital, while he did. He had the advantage in this chase.

Mittens saw another corridor leading down a different way. Thinking she could trick him into going down the wrong path, she made a sharp turn into it, Rhino almost falling off there. She ran a little more, and then stopped. With horror, she realised going down this path was a mistake. Apart from a few rooms, the hallway ended with a staff elevator, which could be activated only with a key card.

It was a dead end.

Orderly Lexus was running at full speed, but he hardly broke a sweat as he chased down the black cat that had somehow infiltrated the California General Hospital. His boss had been very clear in his instructions: Find the darn animals, and get them the heck out of the hospital. They had managed to give him the slip the first time, but not now.

He smiled inwardly as he saw the cat turn the corner into a corridor. He knew it was a dead end, as it led only to the staff elevator. And with no way to access it, they were trapped. He kept himself low to the ground as he moved, just in case they tried to pull a fast one out of the corridor.

But when he turned the corner, he was utterly shocked. The hallway was clean. Nobody in sight. The only movement came from a door at the end of the hallway.

There you are!

He ran swiftly, hands clenched in the thought of what was to come. He wondered how a bunch of animals could open up a supposedly locked door. The room in question they had just run into happened to be a small unused ward. They were planning to convert it into a lounge for doctors to rest in their free time. But for now, it was still empty. And there were no places to hide or run. They had brought him far, but now the jig was up. It was over.

Still running at full speed, he pushed the door open ever so slightly as he slipped in. He then immediately slammed the door behind him, to prevent any sort of escape. He actually half-expected the cat to try and attack him in a last ditch effort to try and escape, but there was no such action. The room was quiet and dark; there were no sounds of movement at all. The moonlight filtering into the room did little to illuminate the darkness.

Where are you…?

His nerves tingling, he reached for the light switch. He flipped it on. The lights flickered on slowly as they were unused for a long time, before finally lighting up full force. He didn't know what to expect, but he certainly didn't expect this.

There was nothing. Nothing at all. The room was barren. In a final act of fury, he let out a guttural roar that reverberated around the fifth floor of the hospital.

"What was that?" Penny asked. She had been chatting with Adrian and Matt about her life while Bolt sat on her lap contently, when they heard a furious yell come from the next room.

"Sounds like a dying horse." Matt said.

"How would you know that?"

"I'm a vet. I know these things."

Adrian stood up and walked to the door. Opening it a crack, she could see Lexus, holding his head in his hands and mumbling to himself.

"Lexus? Were you the one screaming?" He looked up, his expression still in disbelief.

"Adrian, I think I'm going mad. I've been chasing a darn cat the whole freaking night and I can't even get close to it!"

"What are you talking about? A cat? In a hospital? You sure you're not just nuts?"

"I'm not!" He yelled. "There's this black cat…and it's got a hamster riding on top of it! They bit me, see?" He waved his wrist in front of her face. Adrian was still sceptical.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you're hallucinating."

"I most certainly am not! I saw it go into the next room, and then…and then…they disappeared into thin air!" He looked hysterical.

"Lex, I think you're just exhausted. Why don't you go home, get some sleep, and come back tomorrow, m'kay?"

"But I—"

"Look, the last thing this hospital needs is a crazy man running across the hallways. Besides, your screaming is disturbing the patients." She pointed at Penny.

Lexus said nothing. He buried his head in his hands and walked off like a sulking child, still mumbling to himself. Adrian gave him a look of contempt and shook her head in pity as she shut the door again.

"So what was it?" Matt asked.

"A dying horse." Adrian replied flatly, sitting down beside the bed. "Never mind about him. I'm more concerned about these guys over here." She said, pointing at Mittens and Rhino, who had just emerged from under the bed.

"Ah!" Penny shouted, surprised. "Where did they come from?"

"Question of the day, no doubt," Adrian replied.

"M-Mittens? Rhino?" Bolt gaped, jumping off the bed to meet them. "What…what are you guys doing here?"

"Funny," Mittens said, panting. "I thought I already answered a similar question today, Wags."

"But how did you get in here?"

"Long story, Bolt."

Nobody but Adrian noticed that just a minute ago, Mittens and Rhino had slipped quietly into Penny's room, prompting Adrian to stand up and shut the door to the room, not telling anyone what she had seen, in order to maintain silence. If they had made any reaction or sound, Lexus would have run in and found Bolt as well, which would have been more than just a little awkward for them. So, Adrian had hoped for the best and silently closed the door.

Lexus, not expecting the animals to be able to enter a room with a closed door, moved to the furthest room, which thankfully was opened in order for the contractors to view it, where of course, he found nothing.

"How did they get in here?" Matt demanded.

"I don't know. But if anybody finds out about this, we're dead." Adrian replied.

"I'd better bring them down to the shelter. It's just down the road." But as he approached them, Bolt jumped in front, giving a warning growl to Matt. He backed off.

"Okay, maybe not."

"It seems like Bolt knows them." Penny said, intrigued.

"Maybe they got worried about their friend and decided to check on him?" Matt offered. They laughed, but they didn't know it was closer than they thought.

"The both of you…came all the way here to find me?" Bolt asked.

"Repaying the favour, Bolt, that's all." Mittens replied, smiling. Bolt grinned back.

"Thanks, guys."

"Whoa! It's the legendary Penny! I'm actually meeting Penny! This is AWESOME!" Rhino jumped and down excitedly, on the floor, as if his fatigue just disappeared. Penny picked him up gently. That sent him into euphoria.

"Wow, you're one really excited fur ball, aren't you?" Rhino jumped ecstatically in her hands, drawing the attention of the other two to him.

"I think that rodent's on LSD." Matt commented. Adrian slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You feeling okay, Bolt?" Mittens asked, sitting on the carpeted floor. Her breathing rate had stabilized a little.

"Better, I guess. The bandages and medicine make me feel funny, though."

"Well, you did run into a burning building. It's not like you could escape without being nicked here and there."

"But I lived, and Penny's safe. That's the most important, right?"

"I guess so. I'm just glad you're alright, Wags."

There was a strange awkward silence between them.

"Um…Bolt?"

"Yes, Mittens?" She shuffled uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you back in Vegas. I was just…angry. I didn't mean it. I…" She felt a lump in her throat and a stab of guilt in her heart.

Bolt thought a long time, saying nothing, contemplating her words, as if deciding her fate.

Finally, he spoke.

"Well, if that's the case, there's a way you can make it up to me."

"What's that?" Mittens' heart was beating, fast.

"I want you to come home with me and Penny."

Mittens blinked.

"Wait, you mean…?" Bolt nodded, a broad smile forming.

"Yeah. I want you to be a part of our family."

A/N: Countdown...3