Chapter Thirty Six: We'll Find Him

Silence filled the TARDIS after the Doctor's question. No one seemed inclined to go out and explore, not after all the crazy bumps and spinning. Finally, Worf decided to take it upon himself to initiate what he knew had to be done. "What are we waiting for?" he asked as he strode towards the door. A little chagrined, both Doctors fell into step behind him, followed by Baymax.

Worf unbolted the door and pulled it open. If he was expecting to see some inter-spacial type of environment, he was sadly disappointed. "We appear to be in the city," he announced as he pulled out his tricorder and scanned the area.

The view from the TARDIS actually looked into an alley, the non-street side of the alley at that. And, from what anyone could tell, they were jammed in tight between two buildings. "I am detecting readings similar to this vessel," the Klingon informed as he took several steps out onto the concrete.

"If I am not mistaken," Baymax spoke up as he followed Worf outside, "we are not too far from where Hiro reverted to a much younger state."

Both Doctors strode out of the TARDIS, sonic screwdrivers in hand as they also scanned the area. "I do believe you're right," the one with the bow-tie confirmed. "Only we're on the opposite side of the alley." He strode forward a good dozen or so steps, then turned around and jumped into the air.

"What do you think you are doing?" Worf questioned as he watched the Time Lord with unease.

A smile lit up the jumping Doctor's face. "I thought as much," he commented to no one in particular. "We're back to back with the other TARDIS."

His companion looked up sharply. "What?" His expression was decidedly a mix between shock, potential horror, and disbelief. But it quickly dropped to a more neutral expression. "Are we really?" He moved to join the other Doctor and jumped up a bit to see that yes, there really were two TARDISes right next to each other. He could see the light from the other one if he jumped up at the right angle. "You mean to tell me she brought us to her older incarnation? Somehow that doesn't seem normal."

"Newer," the bow-tied Doctor corrected. "Newer. Remember? I regenerated so this," and he circled his face with one hand, "is newer, which means my sexy thing is also newer."

"I don't think that's how it works," the other Doctor countered.

Worf impatiently cleared his throat, causing both to turn and look at him. "I don't mean to be rude, but could someone please explain to me what is going on and what this all means."

The Doctor with the brown coat smiled in a funny manner. "Isn't it obvious? The TARDIS wanted us to be here at this exact moment. What most people don't know about the TARDIS is that she's an intelligent being capable of so much more than just space travel."

Baymax chose that moment to waddle between the three men. "My scanners indicate that another member of our group is nearby," he stated.

"Who?" Worf demanded as he was reminded of the reason why he'd left the manor in the first place. "Could it be Q?"

Both Doctors turned to look at the Klingon. "What makes you think it could be Q?" the bow-tied one asked as he looked curiously at him. "Has he gone missing?" he asked, forgetting he'd already heard the answer to this question.

Baymax tilted his head to one side as he contemplated the data of his scans. "I am uncertain," he admitted. "However, Q did leave the manor this morning. It is possible I am detecting his presence."

"Not good!" the blue-clad Doctor said at the same time as his companion as they both jumped to run out the far end of the alley and around. Worf and Baymax followed after them as they sped through the next alley over to double-back to the front side of the one they'd just left. "I hope you brought the key!" the blue-clad Doctor declared as they stopped in front of the second TARDIS.

Giving another funny kind of smile, the other Doctor shook his head slightly. "Who needs keys when you can do this?" He snapped his fingers and his TARDIS doors opened. His companion nodded in appreciation. Not waiting to see what the other two were doing, the two Doctors stepped into the blue box, the door closing behind them.

"Hey!" Worf barked as the door shut in his face. But no matter how hard he pounded on the door, it would not open.

It was well into the afternoon when Honey got the call from Baymax. Why he was out at the far end of San Fransokyo was beyond her, but she requested Fred send Heathcliff out to retrieve both the healthcare bot and the Klingon with him. "This situation is getting more out of hand," she commented as she watched the butler head out to retrieve their friends.

"Mm," GoGo agreed with a nod of her head. She leaned against the garage, also watching the car leave. Not wanting to stick around and wait, she strode back into the house, catching a glimpse of Fred lurking nearby as she did. "Hey," she called out to him. "Follow me."

Fred gave her a rather questioning look, more confused by her sudden order than anything, but obediently fell into step behind her. "What's going on?" he asked. "Did something else happen?"

GoGo shook her head as she led him up to the command center, stopping short to enter the medical room. "No," she finally answered. "But it's probably time to change that bandage on your nose."

Giving her a somewhat skeptical look, Fred slid onto the cot nearest him. "And what about yours?" He pointed to the gauze covering the upper right part of her forehead. "I don't think that's been changed recently either." There were a few hints of red peeking through the white.

"One thing at a time," GoGo admonished. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you." She reached for a box full of gloves, not that she thought she needed it but because she wanted to be as professional about this as possible, in the off chance one of the others butted in unexpectedly.

For whatever reason, Fred couldn't help but suddenly feel nervous. "I thought we were going to wait until after all this blew over," he protested, not entirely sure if that's what she had in mind or not. He watched her a bit warily as she slipped the gloves on and went for some astringent. If his bite wound hadn't scabbed over, that would definitely hurt.

She moved back over to Fred's side, with a small tray of instruments ready for use should she need them. Again, it was more for show than anything else. Well, she'd need the bandages, the antibacterial ointment and the astringent, but probably not the other things she'd added. "We were," she said as she set the tray down. "Now hold still so I can get this taken care of."

Almost tenderly, GoGo pulled the old bandage off of Fred's nose, revealing the tiny teeth marks Hiro had inflicted a few days ago. Due to being covered, they had not scabbed over so she soaked a cotton ball with alcohol and swiped it across the area, cleaning off residual sticky from the band aide as well.

Fred tried not to wince and ended up bracing himself against the cot, his hands on either side as he subconsciously leaned away. "Ow," he complained as he scrunched up his eyes. It probably didn't hurt that much, but it hurt enough.

"Sorry," GoGo apologized as she finished up by using a spare piece of gauze to dry the area before applying the ointment. "I know we had a moment last time," she added, almost as if an afterthought. "But I'm still not sure what I think about it."

Okay, that was not going where Fred had hoping it would. He couldn't help but hang is head a bit. "Yeah. I shouldn't have instigated it. I mean—"

She shushed him by putting her finger on his lips. Looking far more determined than was absolutely necessary, she placed a fresh bandage on his large nose. "There," she said, making sure the adhesive stuck. "I didn't say it was a bad idea," she continued after a moment's pause. "Just that I don't know what to think about it. Besides, even though you may have wanted to kiss me, I'm the one who kissed you first."

He couldn't argue with that, mostly because it was true. He had gone in to kiss her but stopped, not sure how she'd react to that. And then she'd gone and done what he'd never expected her to do and kissed him instead. But it had been oh so sweet! And left him feeling super confused. "So, uh... What does it mean, then?" He couldn't forget about the other night in the command room either.

Letting out a sigh, she shooed him off the cot so she could take her turn. After all, her bandage needed changing too. And with Baymax not currently there, well, Fred was the next best thing. She mentally prepared for him to just rip the tape off but was surprised when he gently peeled it away in such a manner that she almost didn't feel it, outside of the pull to her skin.

"That doesn't look too good," Fred commented as he looked at the skin under the bandage. The area above her temple looked raw, the skin almost totally gone. "Did Baymax leave any special ointment for this?"

GoGo hissed as she pointed to another tube of ointment she'd placed on the tray. "Can you hurry it up? The air on my face makes it hurt more."

Fred couldn't help but look apologetically upset as he took up a fresh cotton ball and saturated it with disinfectant. "Sorry if it stings," he said as he touched the white surface to her wound.

It took all GoGo had to not flinch away and smack him upside the face. It stung like nothing else could but she gripped the edge of the bed and held on until her knuckles were white. "Just try to hurry," she said through clenched teeth.

And, blissfully, he did. He took care to make sure the whole area was disinfected before putting the ointment she'd indicated to a swab so he could apply it to her face without using his fingers. The medication went on in an even layer that soothed away most of the pain. He then applied a fresh gauze pad, careful to tape far enough away from the damaged skin so as not to aggravate it when the dressing needed to be changed again.

GoGo let out a sigh of relief as he finished. Then, without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned towards him and rested her uninjured cheek against his chest.

More than a little surprised by her actions, Fred wasn't sure what to do. His automatic response was to freeze, but he felt she might need something more than just a stiff board to lean against so he wrapped his arms around her instead. "Hey, you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head slightly, releasing another sigh as she closed her eyes. "I just… I'm worried about Hiro," she admitted. "What if we can't find him? What if he's...?" She couldn't finish the thought.

Fred moved one hand to her head, stroking her hair lightly in comfort. "Hey, it's okay," he tried to reason. "We'll find him. I mean, we've got not one, but two Doctors working on it. Not to mention everyone else."

GoGo pressed closer to Fred's chest. She wouldn't admit it to just anyone, but there were times when she needed what Baymax called "physical reassurance". She was just too independent to ask for it. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed. "I just can't stand the idea of losing him too, not after Tadashi. He's like a kid brother to me. I don't want to lose that."

Fred couldn't help but nod. "Yeah. Me too," he agreed, hoping he was right about them finding him.

James stared at the map he'd borrowed from the closest gas station. He'd taken the risk of leaving the toddler alone once more; hoping nothing further would happen in his absence. He now sat in the same room as the boy, the map spread out in front of him as he munched on cold burritos. The kid wasn't going to eat them so someone might as well, he decided. Waste not, want not.

With the map in front of him, he was having a hard time deciding on where to leave the little bundle. Nothing sounded good. He'd looked at various parks, but there always lay the dilemma of whether or not someone else would get to the child before his parents did. And he wasn't sure he should take that risk. Not with everything else that was going on. He'd noticed the little tyke's condition had changed since he'd gone out.

Hiro was no longer cold. In fact, it seemed more like he had a fever. James had felt the need to turn off the heater and remove the blanket, cleaning up a bit of a mess the unconscious youth had left. It wasn't entirely the kid's fault and he'd made do with what he had. But there was no way he could just leave the boy alone, not sure if they'd find him in time, wondering if someone else might find him instead. He'd had to snitch another t-shirt for the tyke, though it wasn't the cleanest on the planet.

And forget just leaving a note. Most kidnappers didn't have a change of heart. He'd watched enough crime shows to know that. No, he had to think of something else. With a sigh, James pushed the map aside. What other way could he use to make sure the toddler made it back home without endangering him further?

It took James a moment to realize how late it had gotten. The light was fading from the sky and he went to turn on the light, thankful the power still worked. The overhead lights lit up the room as bright as daylight. It had to be well after seven at this point. He couldn't leave the kid out there now, even if he'd wanted to. It would be too dangerous, what with who knew who out there looking for trouble. No, he had to find another way. He just wasn't sure yet what.

The interior of the TARDIS gleamed with a sense of newness. An almost catwalk lined the entire outside wall of the control room, with several sets of stairs leading down to the actual control deck where Q now stood. He couldn't help but look around in awe. It was unlike any ship he'd ever seen, which was saying something.

The central column lit up with six beams of blue-ish light, which went down past the floor and to an area underneath. He wasn't sure what exactly lay down there. He hadn't had enough time to go investigate yet. And without a knowledge of the language and mechanics of the control panels before him, he hadn't felt inclined to tinker around. This wasn't, after all, his ship. Aside from which, it felt more than alive. It felt sentient, like it knew who he was and what he was doing there. He didn't quite dare to fiddle around.

At the sound of a door opening, Q turned towards the entrance to see both Doctors entering at the same time. The door closed behind them, even though he thought he caught a glimpse of Worf and Baymax outside. "Ah," he said as the two Time Lords entered the area. "I wondered how long it would take before you showed up."

"What I want to know is how you got in," the bow-tied Doctor commented as he entered the command level and approached the consoles. "The TARDIS doesn't let just anyone in. She's rather fickle about that kind of thing." His companion stayed near the catwalk, watching with a wary eye. It wasn't his TARDIS, after all.

Q took the few remaining steps between them as he looked into the first Doctor's face. "Oh? Is that so? Because she had no problem opening up for me, though I'm not really sure what all this is." He indicated the area around him with a wave of his hand.

"This is the TARDIS," the bow-tied Doctor replied. "A sentient being encased in a craft that can take me through space and time."

Q couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I already figured as much. So answer me this, if your ship can travel through time and space, what's stopping you from taking our little friends back to their ship?"

The younger-looking Doctor glanced up at his older incarnation, looking as though at a loss for words. "That would be...because..."

The other Doctor let out a sigh as he went down the stairs to join them. "That would be because we can't," he stated. "If it were just a simple matter of taking you and your friends back to where you came from, that would be one thing. But it's not. You're all somehow connected with what's happening here, which is why everything is going wrong. Here's a little something you might not know," he continued as he looked around the TARDIS. Part of him secretly cringed at the change in design. It felt so utilitarian in comparison to his version. "It all hinges on Hiro."

Another eye roll crossed Q's face. "I thought we'd already established that," he snarked. "More or less."

"He's got a point," the newly incarnated Doctor said as he crossed his arms. "We already have established that he's somehow at the center of all this, the catalyst or something similar."

But the other Doctor shook his head as he began pacing the circular deck. "No," he mused. "That doesn't quite feel right. I mean yes, yes it is somehow centered around Hiro," he paused, only to start pacing again. "But maybe not in the way we originally thought. What if," he turned to face the two others, "and hear me out on this, what if we've had it wrong all this time?"