Chapter Thirty-Seven: Means and Ways

Hiro felt more than a little groggy when he next woke up. Part of him couldn't help but wonder if he'd been out of it for a lot longer than he cared to admit. His head ached dully, as did the rest of him. Had he fallen? Oh yeah, he'd biffed it in the lab. He almost thought there might have been another point where he'd woken up between but couldn't be sure. But at least he didn't feel the pressure of a feeding tube going down the back of his throat. That hadn't been a pleasant dream, and was definitely not something he cared to repeat in real life. Doing it as a toddler had been bad enough.

A few blinks cleared his vision and he realized he was in some kind of medical facility. It made sense, he supposed. He had knocked himself a good one. And there was the IV pulling at his arm to prove it. Oh, and the electrodes on his chest. What were those doing there? Well, he supposed it also made sense, along with the sound of a heart monitor beating cadence with his pulse. Okay, just how badly had he biffed it?

Something moved out of the corner of his eye and he turned to look that direction. It was only at that moment that he realized his body didn't immediately want to respond to his commands. He almost felt as though he'd been immobile for years on end and had forgotten how to control his limbs. But before self-pity could come in, the movement attracted his attention once more and he made himself focus.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Dr. Bosch greeting the moment he noticed his patient staring at him. "You've had an interesting past couple of days."

Outside of the hospital gown and the leads coming out from under it, Hiro wasn't sure what to make of that comment. Obviously more was going on than him simply bashing his head. "Thanks, I think," he rasped, wishing fervently for a glass of water. At least the end of the bed where his head rested was somewhat elevated so he didn't need to try and sit up to see the man now standing by his side.

The doctor checked the IV tubing, noting something down on a tablet he had on hand as he then glanced at the monitors. "How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Pain? Stiffness? Hunger?"

Hiro had to take a moment to evaluate himself. He didn't think he'd broken anything. There were no casts to suggest he had. The only pressure of bandage was on his head where he felt he'd probably hit into something before completely blacking out. "My head hurts a bit," he admitted. "And I'm a little thirsty." Then he tried to sit up just a little. It took more of an effort than it should. "Weak, I guess."

Dr. Bosch noted something else down before tucking the tablet under one arm. "All of which are expected. You've been in a medically induced coma for the last few days while we've pumped nutrients back into your body. You'd pretty much starved yourself into quite the state."

Okay, so maybe the feeding tube thing hadn't been a dream, Hiro decided. But if that was the case, why wasn't it there now? If he put his hand up to his face he could feel the remnants of the tape that might have held the tube in place. But there was no denying it was gone. "What...? When...?"

"I removed the feeding tube yesterday when you briefly regained consciousness, though I don't think you were mentally cognizant at the time," Bosch stated. "I wanted to wait and see how you'd feel once you truly woke up before opting to replace it. I take it you didn't care for the food provided." He waited patiently for Hiro to gather his thoughts, watching his minute reactions to everything around them, noting how they seemed slower than the day before.

The teen tried to blink away the foggy sensation behind his eyes. "It made me feel nauseous," he admitted. "Wasn't sure I could keep it down so I didn't bother. It was easy enough to forget when I was working." It was true enough. He often forgot about everything else around him when working on a project. That and the slop they'd tried to feed him really was repulsive. He supposed he could have said something about it but it hadn't occurred to him at the time. That or Hiro was simply taking his time to formulate what he wanted to say.

Dr. Bosch let out a loaded sigh. "Well, your lack of eating has left me in quite the position. Ms. Kendrick wants you functional no later than tomorrow. However, in your current condition, you're still malnourished and somewhat dehydrated. On top of which, due to your lack of appetite, your body began to eat away at your muscles, which means you're going to have some motor and focus problems. Ideally, I'd keep you on the feeding tube with carefully scheduling feedings. That would, of course, require me to reinsert the tube. Judging from you reactions yesterday, however, you're not exactly keen on that idea."

Hiro shuddered at the thought. He remembered the time he'd had one when Q's energy had reverted him back to toddler-hood all too well, and it was decidedly not something he wanted to repeat. But if they were going to keep trying to feed him that slop, it would actually be the preferable method. At least he didn't have to taste anything that way, even if it could be uncomfortable.

"And then there's the matter of your mental state," Dr. Bosch continued, cutting into Hiro's thoughts. "I would not be surprised if you didn't remember much between now and when you fell in the lab. We had to sedate you a few times when you went off the handle a bit. I take it you've experienced some traumatic events in your life and may be repressing them a bit."

Now there was a potential understatement, Hiro thought. It wasn't so much that he was trying to repress them so much as there were so many vying for his attention that he had a hard time processing them all. Sure, he'd gone and reattached all the connections and saved the universe from shattering into a million pieces, but that didn't mean he'd come to terms with each of those memories he'd had to reintegrate into his noggin. That was a lot for anyone to take in. In fact, he'd be willing to bet most people would have run screaming for the hills long before he had. As things stood, it was likely to take a good couple of years before he was able to accept it all and move on. "I guess," he hazarded, not wanting to commit to it one way or another.

Dr. Bosch didn't miss the hesitation in his voice, or the deer-in-headlights look he'd initially given him. He folded his arms across his chest, tablet still in hand. "I want to help you," he stated. "I really do, but I can't do that if you won't work with me. I can try and persuade them to provide you different meal options, but I can't promise anything there. And I can't promise you won't continue to experience things that will trigger whatever trauma you're repressing. What I can do is device a regimen to which you will need to adhere if you want to fully recover, at least physically. I'm sure neither you nor my superiors will like it, but it is what it is. However, if you can't or won't work with me on the other matters, I can't help you beyond that."

Hiro let himself sink back into the mattress, as much as it allowed, and turned his head to face away from the doctor. "Why bother? It's not like they're going to let me just sit this one out anyway. I kinda gathered they're the kind of people who will get what they want, one way or another. What's the point of even trying?"

It wasn't that he wanted to give up, but Hiro had a hard time seeing a way out of this situation. If his friends hadn't found them by now, chances were good they wouldn't. But he wasn't exactly the type to just quit either. He wanted to make Tadashi proud and he couldn't do that if he gave up. It wouldn't be so bad if the odds weren't stacked so horribly against him. Well, there were ways around that too, he supposed, but his brain didn't want to come up with anything at the moment. And he highly doubted the doctor would allow him to hang upside down to get the juices flowing. At least not for a good long while.

Dr. Bosch contemplated his patient. He held an ace up his sleeve and he knew it. The test results had come back from Kally's DNA, as well as Hiro's. They were both obviously more than just human. The extra coding in their DNA proved that. And when he'd submitted his report to the upper management, they'd barely contained their excitement, as he'd anticipated. He hadn't wanted to turn it over, but couldn't see a way around it. Even now, there were geneticists at work trying to determine if the two would make a compatible match in the hopes of making some kind of super human army. They weren't about to let either Hiro or Kally off the hook, or let them die. It might get sketchy, but they weren't going to allow that, even if it meant putting Hiro through hell first.

"Just trust me when I say it would be in your best interests to follow my instructions," Dr. Bosch stated. It was too soon to bring up that kind of thing. Hiro's psyche was still too fragile for him to bring up anything that might cause more trauma. At least not until he was stronger. "I've come up with a plan that should at least placate your taskmasters while you recover. I'm sure you'll find it agreeable in the long run. As is, I'm sure you won't have much physical stamina anyway so I'm sure the schedule will work well."

Maybe it would be better to let them think they'd beaten him, Hiro mused. They would be less likely to keep as strict an eye on him. He could gather his strength, and his wits, and figure a way out of this. Even if his friends hadn't found him yet, he knew they wouldn't give up on him. It wasn't in their nature. And, at the very least, Baymax wouldn't give up, nor would he want Hiro to either. But whoever these people were didn't need to know that. He just needed enough time to figure out a way out of this mess. So, mustering all his experience with conning other people, Hiro let his shoulders sag, a look of defeat overshadowing his face. It was easier to manage than he cared to admit. "Fine," he sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice in the matter anyway. Might as well."

The doctor nodded as he set the tablet aside. "I'll make a deal with you then," he said. "I'll talk to the others and see if I can get them to change your diet, for medical reasons, so long as you try to eat what is brought. If it becomes an issue again, I'm going to have to resort back to the feeding tube to keep you on your feet. Agreed?"

When he put it that way, Hiro knew he couldn't decline. "Sure. But if it's more of that grey slop stuff, all bets are off." He really hoped they'd at least agree to give him something more normal that actually looked like food instead of some failed science experiment.

Honey Lemon paced. She couldn't help it. With nothing they could do about the whole situation, she felt more than a little trapped. Part of her wished she had Tadashi to rely on. He'd always been good at helping her sort out problems. But that was years ago and she had the team now. Though, in a way, it just wasn't the same.

"You seem distressed," Baymax spoke up as Honey passed his location for the seventh time. He stood in the hallway, watching her go back and forth. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

It was day two back at Stark Tower and they seemed no closer to figuring out where Hiro and Kally where, or who'd taken them, than they had before. Honey paused at Baymax's question, biting her lip. Without warning, she threw herself on him for a hug. "Oh Baymax," she exclaimed. "I miss them! And I really wish there was something we could do but there isn't!"

Having gotten that off her chest, Honey pulled away, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Sorry about that," she apologized as she straightened. "I just needed a little, you know..."

"Physical comfort?" Baymax supplied for her. "Given the circumstances, it is understandable. Do not worry. We will find Hiro. It will be all right." In their own way, each member of the team was going through what he would call the stages of grief. And just as though they'd literally lost Hiro to death, they all needed to go through those stages if they were going to get anywhere. Honey seemed further along than the others, but that wasn't entirely surprising. Well, except for maybe Fred.

Honey moved in for one more hug before pulling away once more. "Thanks, Baymax. I needed that." She moved to press her back against the wall. The others were still asleep, or so she thought. At least GoGo was still out. It was still pretty early in the morning after all. "I just can't help but wonder where they are, if they're okay. And I can't help but wish there was something more I could do."

Baymax debated. Sammy was still nestled up next to his CPU. Part of him wished to tell Honey about his guest, but he also had made a promise not to tell anyone just yet. He didn't know exactly what the AI was doing but felt sure it would help things out. "Do not worry," he said instead. "I believe something will present itself soon so we may find both Hiro and Kally."

"I hope you're right," Honey worried. "I just can't help but think something terrible has happened and that he needs us."

Baymax could only blink at that. Part of him wondered if she wasn't right. But until Sammy or one of the others came up with something, he doubted there was much he could do about it.

Kally typed away at her keyboard. Things were coming together now. She'd finally figured out how to embed one of the runes into her work as a sort of "fail safe" should she be unable to figure out how to give the darn program a death date. If it thought it was aging, it would eventually malfunction. And since she was pretty handy with her coding, she hoped no one would be the wiser before it was far too late to do anything about it.

She paused, her fingers lingering on the keyboard. Two days had passed since that doctor had taken her blood. She still wasn't sure how it was going to help Hiro. In fact, she kind of thought it didn't really have anything to do with helping his current condition at all. So, if that wasn't why they'd taken the samples, just what did they want them for?

There was decidedly something they weren't telling her, not that they probably would until they had to. She knew, aside from the relatively recent bout of allergic reactions, she was in pretty good shape. And that despite the whole slop, which had actually changed lately. It actually looked edible now, instead of like grease drippings solidified into something you were supposed to eat. In fact, they'd actually brought actual food to her the last time, now that she thought about it. That was a nice change. Maybe the doctor had said something to someone.

But that still didn't explain the whole blood test stuff. She'd mulled over it that last night or two, wondering why someone would want that much blood. And then it hit her as she stared at the code on her screen. DNA. Just like computer code, a human's DNA made up and ordered the basic components of life. Had they found out she was more than just human, something she hadn't even known until just recently? And if they had, what were they going to do with it? And what did that have to do with Hiro?

Kally closed her eyes. There were means and ways to discovering the truth. She wasn't sure if she should employ those means just yet, but it might need to happen sooner than later. And even if she could make her way back to the medical areas of the building, there was no way she would be able to do so without some kind of escort. She'd seen the cameras everywhere. They'd know what she was up to, unless she somehow managed to be circumspect about it. That, of course, required someone else to play along, and she wasn't sure if even Hiro knew why they were so interested in her DNA. For all she knew, they were interested in his as well.

She'd heard and read stories of geneticists trying to create the "perfect" gene. Well, Hiro had uncanny intelligence. She did too, for that matter. But she somehow felt there was more to it than that. They could have gone after any old genius for that. But then there was the fact that she was half Valkyrie, which was bound to make her genes more unusual than most people's.

And then there were all the weird things with Hiro. Kally had gotten the gist that he'd been through a lot. Losing parents and siblings did that to a person. But she couldn't help but think there was a lot more to it than just that. There was obviously a lot they didn't know about each other. From what she understood, most people, even with a few tragic deaths under their belts, didn't behave like that. No, there had to be something else going on. She just wished she knew what.

This was getting her nowhere, Kally thought. She was starting to think in circles, which threatened to make her dizzy. So she leaned back against the chair, eyes still closed. If her overseers knew her thoughts weren't on the task at hand, they'd probably get mad, but she didn't care. Figuring this out was more important. Maybe not as important as finding a way out of this place, but still pretty high on the priority list.

Kally had gotten some semblance of an inkling that not everything was as it seemed. That same sense that had told her the latitude and longitude of where she'd gone when they'd taken her to see Hiro that first time said something was wrong. Three odd weeks had passed, but she somehow felt that wasn't right. If she pushed her blossoming senses further out, she came up against some kind of barrier that prevented her from going any further. It was almost like they were inside a bubble, which didn't bode well at all. If they were in some kind of bubble, tucked out of sight, how were they going to escape it?

All this thinking was making her head hurt. She hadn't had a migraine in some time, though they weren't uncommon. Her dad used to get migraines as well. She supposed she'd inherited that trait from him. And, in a way, it made no sense that she hadn't had one recently, until now. If she kept thinking in circles, it would bloom into a full-blown migraine and she wasn't sure if she wanted that. They always made her feel sick. Then again, it might be exactly what she needed to have happen at the moment.