A gift for all those people trapped in their house

Hisoka woke up in a hospital bed. The bright sun shining threw the window was a little blinding but his yellow cat-like eyes soon adjusted. Compared to where he was before this clean hospital room was a big improvement.

"He's up Gon" Killua was sitting across the room in a wooden chair patiently waiting for the other to awaken.

Gon walked in carrying a brown paper bag. He casually tossed a juice box to Killua.

"Morning" when he tossed one to Hisoka the magician shielded his face with his hands. The juice box bounced off his head before landing on his lap.

Killua started laughing while Gon quickly apologized.

"I'm so sorry, that was stupid of me."

"It's quite alright. You just caught me by surprise." Embarrassed Hisoka lowered his eyes.

"So the doctors checked you over. They couldn't find anything wrong. What happened in that forest?"

"I made a small miscalculation. What were you two doing there?"

"We took the job at the hunter association. It was a low risk, so I thought it be a safe way to retrain my nen abilities."

"I heard about that incident with the Ants. I'm jealous you got to fight such strong opponents. Maybe next time you could tell me all about it."

Hisoka slowly stood up. His legs were sore and he moved slower than usual. He was very worried he might slip or fall.

"Thanks for helping me out of that sticky situation. Send me the hospital bill and I'll wire you the money."

"But Hisoka..."

The magician jumped back when a stranger enters the room. It was the doctor.

Seeing his patient's distress the doctor spoke softly and moved slowly.

"Calm down Mr. Marow. I just came to ask if you're going to file a police report. These two young men say you were jumped in the woods."

"N-No that won't be necessary."

Hisoka sidestepped the doctor but was blocked by Killua.

"Your acting stranger than usual. What happened in the woods?" Killua was giving him that stone-cold look. He must have inherited it from his brother. Hisoka would normally get a thrill from that death glare and blood lust but now it scared him. It wasn't full one terror but his stomach felt like he was a middle schooler about to give a grade defining presentation for his strict veteran history teacher.

"Killua if he doesn't want to talk about it, it's fine"

"We are going back there layer Gon. We need all the information we can get."

"NO!" Hisoka shouted. Both boys jumped from his sudden burst. "You can't go back. She will change you too and Illumi will blame me" he grabbed Killua by the shoulders and started shaking him. The younger one was too shocked to stop him "You can't, you cant, you can't " he repeated like a mad man. Killua's head was bobbing back and forth from how violently Hisoka was shaking his shoulders.

"Ok" killua agreed. "Just stop before I barf"

Once Hisoka calmed down he ended up telling the pair everything.

"A nen that can change the characteristics of a person. Iv heard of mind controls abilities but none that can change someone's personality." Killua said.

He turned toward Gon. " Guess it was a good thing we ran into Hisoka first. That kind of nen user could have been really dangerous."

"But it looks she can only use it when the other person swallows her blood." Gon said.

"We need to leave right now. She might still be looking for me." Hisoka spoke with a desperate tone.

"Why do you think that?"

"I killed a few of her friends and she took it pretty hard. Plus she seems like the person that doesn't like to leave loose strings. I know her ability and its requirements.

Killua pulled Gon to the side. "This is none of our business. We should leave before we get mixed up in this mess. Hisoka can take care of himself." he whispered.

"We can't just leave him like this. You saw him. He can't defend himself."

"I can hear you two. I am perfectly able of taking care of my self."

He was about to walk out of the hospital room when he stopped. Turning back he smiled nervously. "Can you boys show me the way out. I've never been here and I'm worried I might get lost."

Gon grabbed his hand. "Sure, its this way." He led him threw the halls and down the stairs. Hisoka refused to take the elevator because he thought it might get stuck or come crashing down. He would jump at the slightest sound, even his own shadow gave him a scare. Gon was patient and encouraged him every step of the way. Killua followed behind, half annoyed, half amused by the situation.

They ended up taking Hisoka back to the inn where they were staying much to Killua's displeasure.

"I have a spare sleeping bag you can use." Gon said.

"Thank you Gon." Hisoka smiled nervously. Being in an unfamiliar environment was putting him on edge.

"I'll call Morel and tell him whats going on. Maybe he can get some more experience hunters to handle things."

Hisoka visibly became more distressed.

"Don't worry, I won't mention what happen to you."

Killua knew that the other had good reason to be worried. If word got out about Hisoka's situation, it would be a race to see who could take his head first. The clown had screwed over a lot of people. Those same people would be the first coming for him.

"We should go too, Richita is the only one who can fix Hisoka."

"Are you sure you want that? This version is a lot less dangerous."

"Hisoka has helped us out in the past. We can't just leave him like this." Gon gave him the biggest puppy eyes in the word. Killu bit his lip. Signing he gave in.

"Fine, he can stay."

Two days had passed before they heard back from Morel. The cake factory had been abandoned. The SSJ members were gone, even the bodies of the dead ones Hisoka had slain were nowhere to be found. The hunters had searched the area but the group of thieves had disappeared without a trace.

Time had done nothing to lessen the effects of the changes made to Hisoka. He was a jittery and trembling mess. They couldn't leave him alone or he would have a panic attack and he refuses to leave the room. One of them had to constantly stay with him and this was starting to overwhelm the young teens.

Hisoka had taken to the habit of wrapping himself up in a big blanket on the sofa and watch cooking shows all day. He claimed that the news was too scary and that even the golf channel would stress him out when the players took a swing.

Gon was sitting next to him on the sofa, enjoying a bowl of cereal. Killua had just returned from visiting his sister.

"So on the kitchen shows your not afraid when the chief grabs a knife?" The silver-haired teen asked.

Hisoka pressed the off button on the remote. " I am now" he sighed.

Gon glared at Killua.

"I swear I didn't do it on purpose."

"That's it." Gon jumped up from the sofa and stood in front of the magician. "Let's go for a walk."

Bitting his lip Hisoka looked down. "I don't think that's a good idea Gon."

Gon didn't get upset. The determination never left his eyes. "Do you want to be like this forever?"

"Of course not but..." he trails off.

"If we cant undo this nen curse than let's rebuild your bravery."

"Do you think that's possible Gon?" Killua asked.

"Why not, Richita said she turns one emotion into another. Hate into love and bravery into fear. By that logic, we should be able to naturally change Hisoka back or at least make it possible for him to function normally. People change all the time and so do their emotions."

"It makes sense in theory. Worth a shot since the SSJ group disappeared."

Gon stuck out his hand to Hisoka. "I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you. We can make you brave again, you just have to trust me."

Just like his father Gon could reach a person no matter what kind of dark place they were in. His confidence was comforting and Hisoka found himself grabbing Gon's hand.