Disclaimer: Spoilers are below.

Disclaimer #2: I do not own Big Hero 6. Disney Animation does.


Chapter 9 – Slow Things Down

Life is a series of challenges...

"What? You two are a super villain team, after all?"

"I am aware of that, Skater Tot." The old woman waved behind her, the old man strapped into his restrained. "But did you have to put him in the same cell as me?"

Go Go smirked, lazily rolling around on her armor's wheels. "Like two really old peas in a pod. At least he's sleeping."

"Oh yeah. Great. I get to listen to him snore. Wonderful."

Supersonic Sue crossed her arms and looked back at the superhero. "You know, I meant what I said earlier. We could be a great partnership, you and I. Running around and painting the town red. Nothing like this clown."

"Sorry, Sue. We're on two different sides of the law. And besides..."

Go Go peered to her right, noticing in the incoming call to her cell on her display. She smiled, recognizing the number.

"I already have a team. And a partner."

She sped off out of the jail, leaving the two villains behind. Once she was alone, she picked up the call. "Hey."

"Hey. Are you busy?"

"A little bit. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you were interested in doing something tonight."

A text message icon came over her visor, interrupting their conversation. "Uh...sorry. I'll have to take a rain check on that."

"Out kicking butt as usual?"

Go Go turned the corner, a small smile on her face. "Yup. You could say that. But Honey Lemon just sent me something. I gotta go."

"OK."

She put the brakes on her wheels, gradually coming to a stop. "Don't sound so disappointed."

"I'm not." The voice paused. "I...just thought after the other night, we-"

"Robbie." Go Go looked up at the clouds, trying to formulate her thoughts. "We are not going to talk about this now. I'm not ready yet. But I'll text you tonight, OK? That fair?"

"Fair enough." The sound of a car pulling up came in the background. "I gotta get back to work, anyway."

"OK. Good night."

"Good night...Hot Wheels."

The call ended before Go Go could get another word in. Letting out an anguished growl, she brought up her display on her gloves. "That boy..."

And then she read the text from Honey Lemon.

"That girl..."


Meant to knock you down so you can get back up...

Every single tennis ball lodged in his direction was cleanly sliced into two...except for one.

Wasabi bent down, deactivating his blades. "I gotta get better at this. Heathcliff, do you have another bag?"

"I do, good Sir." The butler nodded to the container at his feet. "But might I suggest perhaps taking it a little easier this around. You appear to be rather tired."

"I'm fine." He straightened up and got ready. "Do it again."

Heathcliff filled the launcher and turned the dial once more. This time, the balls came at a much faster pace, almost immediately overwhelming Wasabi.

"Gah!"

Wasabi barreled over onto his back, sliding backwards until he stopped a few feet away from the fountain. The tennis balls made for a nice bed for him to let his head fall backward. "Ugh." Staring up at the sky, he noticed Heathcliff come into his field of vision. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I'm afraid I am guilty of that, Master Wasabi," he said, almost smiling. "Perhaps this is an event that is telling you to...take it easy for a bit."

He smiled, taking the butler's outstretched hand. "Yeah. Maybe I should. I have been going for a while."

Wasabi's cell started to vibrate as the two stood in the garden. "Perhaps you should see who that is, Master Wasabi, and I shall fetch you some refreshments."

"Sounds good." He picked up his phone and saw that he had a new text message. He opened it up...

"Sweet. I'm down for that."


Sometimes the solution is right there on the paper...

Fred took his time, skimming through the gigantic catalog of comics on the table in front of him. He could feel the beady little eyes of the boy behind the counter, silently judging him.

"Keep your eyes on your own work, Mole."

"Oh, I am, twerp." Richardson turned another page in his comic. "I can watch you and read at the same time. I have two eyes."

"...You should get that checked out."

Finally making a decision, Fred brought up his choice to Mole, who scanned it with a flick of his wrist. "$3.59."

"What?" Fred pointed to the top corner of the comic. "It clearly says something different here."

Richardson sneered at him. "You're forgetting the fact there's a forty percent Fred tax in this story. Did you not read it on the sign?"

Turns out he hadn't noticed the sign. He did, however, notice the jar next the sign. It had a few coins in it, with a sticker on the outside that said "ORPHANAGE". "What's that?"

The boy followed his gaze and shrugged. "Mom wants me to gathering some cash to help with the kids down at the orphanage. Clearly she doesn't realize she can just buy the orphanage, tear it down, and make a new one. Silly, right?"

Fred glanced back and forth between the jar and Mole, his brain working overtime. "You know what, Mole?"

"What?"

He slammed down everything he had in his pocket, sending a cascade of cash and coins overflowing from the jar, surprising even Mole. Fred wiped his hands off, picked up his bag with the comic, and walked out the door. "I think that'll be enough for the comic and the orphanage. See ya."

Fred ignored the stunned face of his arch-nemesis as she started to walk down the street back to his house. His phone rang out, and he pulled it out of his pocket to see Honey Lemon's portrait and a new message from her. He read it aloud...

"Sweet! Team bonding time!"


And other times you can't see it at all...

"There has to be a connection. There just has to be."

Hiro was in his lab, in his chair, and in a state of perpetual misery. The white board in front of him was filled to the brim with red string, photos, blueprints, and other miscellaneous things.

Yup, he had told himself that the conspiracy theorizing was going to stop once Obake was gone, but old habits die hard.

He sunk even further into the cushion, wishing Baymax was here. Honey Lemon had taken off to parts unknown and he had been too distracted to notice until he found himself alone.

But he didn't care. He had to figure it out.

His finger traced the dermal patch on the board. He really should have just started off with that; maybe that way, he wouldn't have found himself with a face full of open-palm pain.

But Sycorax was up to no good. And Hiro had to find out what. To save people's lives. To save the city. To save Karmi.

And salvage whatever he could between him and her.

Should have stopped at 'the city', Genius Boy.

Hiro sighed. He really hated it when his consciousness called him that.

His phone chimed on his desk, a group text arriving into his messages. Hiro wheeled over and glanced down at the screen...

"What in the world...?"


But it's not a race. You have to take the hectic and rapid thing that we call life, and sometimes just-

"I can't believe we're actually doing this."

I was SO close, Go Go.

"It helps to take a deep breath and relax, Go Go. You agreed on that."

"I did. I didn't agree to this."

The entire group was now back at the lab, but they weren't working on projects or building things. They were in the middle of a "relaxation session", as dubbed by Honey Lemon. The five of them were sitting in a small circle, yoga mats underneath each person. Honey Lemon and Wasabi has changed into their workout clothes; Go Go and Hiro had removed their jackets, leaving them in their tank top and t-shirt respectively. Beyond that, Hiro was not experienced in this sort of thing, so he settled in and just followed the Latina's lead.

So far, they had done a few simple stretches and sensory exercises (whatever that meant, but his ears were now twitching because of it). Fred had already fallen over twice, and Go Go was itching to punch something.

In other words...it was going swimmingly.

"OK, guys. We're now going to meditate." Honey Lemon said, sitting down and crossing her legs. "Everyone, take your place."

Hiro mimicked her position, as did the others. She nodded to Baymax, who hit Play on his media program. The soft sounds of nature started to reverberate throughout the lab.

"Oh good. Are we going to sing 'Kumbaya' too?"

Honey Lemon ignored her as she looked around the circle. "Since so much has happened to us over the past few weeks, I thought that it would be a great idea for us to take some time to relax and regain our energy. And since everyone made their way here, it seems we all came to that conclusion."

"I'm for it!" Fred yelled.

"Thank you, Freddie."

"Yeah, I'm totally for it, too," Wasabi added. "You...did disable the excess-stress alarm from Baymax, right?"

"Yup. The music actually disables all of that, thankfully."

Everyone else turned to Go Go. She noticed the sudden audience and sighed loudly. "Fine. I'm willing to try it."

"Good." Honey Lemon shifted her legs slightly. "Now, everyone close their eyes and find your center. We'll start when everyone's ready."

Fred's eyes were already shut as he started teetering back and forth. Wasabi leaned away from him, probably a little worried about becoming collateral damage to him "finding his center". Hiro shut his, hands on both of his knees. Hey, it's not like this wouldn't hurt, right?

The far door creaked open, and Hiro heard footsteps make their way over to the group, stopping right between him and Honey Lemon. He still had his eyes closed, so he didn't know who it was until they opened their mouth.

"Is...there room for one more?" the person whispered.

Hiro didn't dare open his eyes as he felt Honey Lemon's body turn to the newcomer. "Of course. You can grab the extra mat and set your stuff over there."

The steps walked off, and for a moment, he wished that they would go back out the door. But no, their backpack was set down next to the chair, and they came back, uncurling the mat between him and Honey Lemon.

Hiro scooted over a little bit to give some room to the new arrival. Carefully, he opened his left eye.

The rest of the group all had their eyes shut. Going around the circle, Fred was to his immediate right, holding his fists together in some sort of Buddhist pose. To his right was Wasabi, calm and collected, having done this several times before. Go Go's lips were still in a frown, her bare arms tensed up, but at least it looked like she was trying. Honey Lemon looked almost serene in her posture, the whites and greens of her outfit glowing brightly from the lights above.

And then there was Karmi.

She had taken her sweater off, and for the second time ever, he saw the orange dress in full, her bare shoulders now exposed to the air. Her chest was slowly rising up and down, the air going in and out of her nostrils.

And her right eye was staring right at him.

In a panic, he shut his eye, not wanting to get into an argument. But the finger poking him in the knee apparently had other ideas.

Great, he thought. You asked for it, Karmi.

Hiro looked at her now, and noticed for the first time the small, partially-healed cut on her cheek. Before she could do anything, he made his move.

"You OK?" he mouthed.

"What?" she noiselessly retorted.

Hiro tilted his head down, and she instantly knew what he was talking about. "I'm..fine."

"Baymax, does everyone have their eyes closed?"

The two teen geniuses quickly ended their quiet conversation, resuming their meditating positions.

"Currently, everyone has their optic sensors closed."

"Thank you, Baymax." Honey Lemon took a deep breath in. "Now, everyone put your hands out to the side. Left hand palm up, right hand palm down."

OK, this wasn't too bad. He could deal with this.

"Now, everyone join your hands together."

...OK, this was bad.

He could hear everyone's arms shuffling around, including Fred's hand coming up to meet his. It was only a question as to what the person on his left was going to do.

But to his surprise, her fingers came to rest in his open palm, the tips lightly grazing his hand.

"Now, as we sit here together, we combine our energy and distribute it anew." Honey Lemon's voice was soft and comforting. "Everyone get a good breathing pattern, and we'll stay with this for a few minutes."

Hiro's breaths became even and focused, the music soft in the background.

"Now, how does everyone feel?"

"...I feel like Fred had a Yaki Taco on the way over here."

"Hey, I was hungry!"

"Boys."

"Sorry, Go Go," they said in unison.

"Karmi, what about you?"

She hesitated for a moment, her mouth expelling air. "I feel...calm. Like...everything's fine."

Her fingers started to slightly shake in his hand, her nervousness betrayed by them.

"Like...everything's going to be OK."

"That's good, Karmi. Very good," Honey Lemon said. "Now, let's continue with the breathing."

Hiro was torn. There was literally no way he could get out of this predicament. Karmi was clearly worried about something, but it wasn't like he could just ask. Therefore, he had to come up with a solution.

He started to rub her knuckles with his thumb, hoping the comfort would help her calm down. Judging from her fingers curling into his, it seems that she got the message.

Karmi's pointer finger started tapping his palm. Maybe it was a nervous tic she had. It seemed like she was doing a lot, with long presses, short taps, and pauses in between-

Wait.

No. There was no way. How on Earth would she know-

Her nail digging into his wrist brought him back to Earth. Paying closer attention, he recalled the chart in his mind, trying to pay attention to the taps and presses in his palm.

Sorry.

She was saying "Sorry."

In Morse Code.

He was still confused, though. What was she apologizing about? He quickly make his response by using his thumb on her pinkie. For?

Face.

Oh yeah. That thing that happened where Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Aunt Cass (once he had gotten home) tried to help him. But that was days ago. And he hadn't been the best person to her either.

Deserved it, he tapped back.

One press, a tap, a pause, then three long presses. No.

I did.

Hiro.

Before he could respond back, Honey Lemon spoke up. "One more minute, and then we'll move on, OK?"

Oh boy, he had to get this one out quick. He tapped out her name, then rubbed some punctuation on her middle finger. Karmi?

Yes? She responded.

Two taps down. I...

Hiro paused. This was probably not the best idea, but if he didn't do it now, he would have to say it to her face, and that was never going to happen.

He rapidly fired off his conclusion, hoping that his message was clear. Once he stopped, he listened hard for any sign that she interpreted it correctly.

Karmi's deep breath and sniffle gave her away. Her finger uncurled again, tapping his wrist softly.

Two long presses. A pause.

One short tap. Another pause.

And then seven presses all together.

Yup, she definitely got the message.

"OK, let's separate."

At Honey Lemon's command, the group opened their eyes, their hands back in their own possession. Go Go took the opportunity to stretch her arms above her head. "You know, I think that actually worked. I feel really good."

"I'm glad." Honey Lemon grinned. "Now, the next thing we're going to do is called the "raisin meditation". Wasabi, can you hand me the-"

Everyone turned to Go Go, who was munching on something, a small white box in her hands. "Oh." She shrugged her shoulders as she tossed the trash over her shoulder. "What? Meditation makes me hungry."

Hiro chuckled to himself as the four older students got up from their mats, the girls arguing with each other and the boys laughing at the argument. His ringside seat to the show was interrupted when he felt a hand on his knee. He looked down to see it belonged to the girl beside him.

Karmi smiled warmly at him, and he did his best to do the same back. It appeared that their relationship (whatever it was at that point) was back to normal. Or what counted as normal these days.

Her finger tapped his knee, the message secret to everyone else very clear to Hiro.

Thank you.

Turns out the solution to his problem...was to take things slow.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: (...I wonder who's going to notice I switched the disclaimers.)

So...you're probably wondering what Hiro "said" to Karmi near the end there.

The answer?

...I don't know. I'll just leave that to your imagination. :)

I have no idea what the last episode of this two week stint is going to hold, so I figured I would do a little "round-up" of the events of these episodes and stories. That includes callbacks to the show (Heathcliff, Richardson Mole) and people exclusive to my stories (Robbie), and I hope that it came together good enough.

Also, Hiro and Karmi talking to each other in Morse Code is the nerdiest thing I could have thought of. And it's also strangely adorable.

Unless I come up with another fic idea, tomorrow's chapter will be the finale for this story. Essentially writing ten stories in two weeks has been tiring, but very rewarding. Here's to hoping the episode will be rewarding as well.

Read and review, if you like. Until tomorrow.