Disclaimer: Big Hero 6 is the property of Disney Animation. Please go watch Season 2; it has been an absolute blast so far.

Disclaimer #2: Me caveman. Spoilers below. Read at discretion. No ask how me know word "discretion".

Also, YOU try making a chapter title riffing off of "Nega-Globby".

Chapter 5 – Chemical Bonds

Under the microscope, the cells pulsated all on their own rhythm. The zoom was changed on the viewfinder, the person looking at it attempting to memorize every detail.

"Not any noticeable change."

Honey Lemon made a few notes on her pad, right next to her bunny doodle. Globby has offered a sample of his body for her to study. Having eaten Nega-Globby and saving the day, she wanted to make sure there wasn't any adverse effects on his cellular structure.

And there weren't. So far.

She stifled a yawn, taking another sip from her tea. She still had to run a few more tests; maybe she could go through them quickly before leaving for the day.

A soft knock came from her left, and she turned to see a lab coat-sleeved arm wrapping around the corner. The rest of the body came into her view, revealing...

"Karmi. What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you had taken some additional samples from Globby. Did you want any help with it?"

"Well, he really just wanted to make sure he could still maintain the same structural integrity from before. But if you want, we can run a couple of analyses together."

"Sounds good."

"Here." Honey Lemon turned her bunson burner off. "Can you set this over there in the cabinet for me?"

Karmi took it off of her hands and walked over to the far wall. She opened the door to place the burner in and saw the bio-stasis capsule out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you think we'll be needing that anymore?"

Honey Lemon followed her gaze. "I don't know. You never know when we'll need to turn someone back to human again."

She walked back over to her, lost in thought. "I can't believe he would willingly change himself back. After everything we did to help that man."

"He wanted to help Big Hero 6 out. I guess some people were just meant to be a hero."

Karmi's eyes scrunched together. Honey Lemon looked up to see her face and grinned sheepishly. "Oops. I said the forbidden word, didn't I?"

She puffed her bangs up and started to mix a random concoction together, much to the amusement of Honey Lemon. She put a lid on her Petri dish and turned to her. "Hiro was just trying to help, you know."

"Why does he have to try to show off all of the time in front of me? 'Could it be the delivery system?' Ugh."

"Karmi, it was a legitimate question. We didn't know what was going on with the stasis pod."

"But why does he have to be so arrogant about it?"

"He wasn't. I could tell."

Karmi said nothing as she crossed her arms in a huff.

"Can I ask you a question, Karmi?" Honey Lemon said.

She didn't look up, but did acknowledge her query. "Sure."

"Why can't you be friends with him?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Karmi didn't answer immediately, deciding to keep staring at her impromptu liquid in the beaker. Honey Lemon took the opportunity to interject.

"Karmi, you don't have to-"

All of a sudden, the teen genius slammed her fists into the table, all dignity lost. The beaker went flying off and landed on the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

"I just can't, OK!?"

Honey Lemon took a step back from the counter, allowing her room to get her aggression out.

"That...kid...is such a pompous jerk! He thinks he's so much better than me, which he's not! Why does he have to rub his stupid smarts into my face? Why can't he just leave me alone?"

Her head came down onto the table as well, her fists shaking on either side.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" she repeated in a whisper.

Karmi heard the sound of heels walk over to her, and a gentle hand on the back of her neck.

"Because he doesn't want to."

She looked up to see Honey Lemon, still smiling through her entire tirade.

"Because he wants to be your friend."

She bent down to Karmi's level.

"Because he likes you."

Karmi set her head down again, cheek on the table. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better. I know he hates me."

"Are you sure about that?"

Honey Lemon set down her sample and turned the corner, grabbing a stool over at Wasabi's station. She dragged it over and put it underneath her companion. "Have a seat, Karmi."

She reluctantly lowered herself onto the stool, the older student taking her seat next to her. Honey Lemon put her hand back onto her neck, rubbing it in a motherly way.

"Karmi...I'm not Go Go. I'm not going to try to pry into your life to find out what's wrong. I'm not going to force you to talk if you don't want to. But I'm right here. I'm listening. Take a deep breath."

She did indeed do that, letting it out rather heavily. It still looked like she wasn't ready to talk, so Honey Lemon chimed in.

"I know you don't hate him, Karmi. You can say it as many times as you want; I can tell when someone's not saying the truth."

She put a finger to her mouth, thinking. "Also, Go Go mentioned something about you two having lunch together, and normally people who hate each other don't-"

Karmi glared at her.

"Yeah, I don't know how she figures everything out either, but I guess that's not the point." She continued on. "I've known Hiro for a while now, and he really is a nice person. He's kind, and smart, and a good friend. Does...that sound like someone that deserves to be hated?"

"...No." Karmi straightened up and crossed her fingers on the table. "I...I don't hate him. I really don't. But sometimes he's just so..."

"Hiro-y?"

"Yeah!" She started to count on her fingers. "He comes in with an attitude all the time, he acts like he owns the place, he wants to be involved in every single asset, he-"

She noticed that Honey Lemon was now grinning at her, a twinkle in her eye. "What?"

"Sorry. My bad." The blonde chuckled to herself. "I thought we were still talking about Hiro."

Now Karmi got it. "...Oh."

Honey Lemon took her glasses off momentarily, cleaning them with her jacket. "Karmi, remember what you said the other day when Hiro was here? 'He's a fourteen-year-old genius. We get it.'?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there's another young genius that goes here that's just as good as him." Honey Lemon glanced at the floor and the remnants of her beaker. "And like him, she also breaks my things."

"Sorry about that," Karmi apologized.

"No worries! Half of the budget for replacement chemistry equipment is from my experiments, anyway." Honey Lemon looked back at her, leaving the mess behind. "But I'm saying that you and Hiro have so much in common. And that's not a bad thing. Look."

She pointed to the stasis pod at the far wall, Karmi looking as well. "Hiro had nothing to do with that. You did. You are an amazing person and student."

"But Hiro-"

"Stop. Please." She stared at the younger student straight in the face. "You are both geniuses. You are both great. Both of you can exist together. You need to stop comparing yourself to him. You are special in ways he's not. He is not you. And you are not him. OK?"

Karmi, overcome with emotion, wrapped her arms around Honey Lemon's waist. The Latina hugged her back, the tears running down her glasses. A good minute passed where neither of them moved at all.

"I don't understand how you do it," Karmi said, muffled by the jacket.

"Do what?"

She pulled back from the hug, rubbing her eyes. "Be so...happy all the time."

"I have a couple things. One...tea!" A steaming cup came into Karmi's vision, causing her to recoil. "You can never have too much tea!"

"Uhh..."

"But other than that (the cup went just as quickly out of view), I have my friends. And they make me happy. Sure, we have our ups and downs, just like you and Hiro, but isn't that what friendship is?"

Karmi shuffled in her stool, not answering.

"Here, watch me."

She saw Honey Lemon point her two index fingers upwards, about an inch apart. "Karmi...friendship isn't about trying to one-up each other." She brought the two fingers together gently. "It's about being one with each other. Being there for them. Helping them when they're at their low. Understanding each other's needs and feelings, through the bad and the good. And I know that's frustrating for you, because you haven't had much experience with that. But the only way you can get better at it is to try."

Karmi scratched the back of her head. "You're right. You're right about everything. I...I just don't know where to start. I feel like we've done more bad than good already."

"I wouldn't say that. We've seen you two get along with each other. I mean...we've also seen the two of you fight. But like I said, you have to take both of them together. Build off of that."

A sigh escaped Karmi's lips, her hand running down her face.

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Hmm?"

Honey Lemon pulled up a map of the city on her phone. "When was the last time you and Hiro did something together?"

"...He threw me up in the air about thirty feet."

"Oh yeah, Go Go also mentioned something about that too. I just thought she was joking." She shrugged. "Anyway, what about something that wasn't related to school or your internship or about a project?"

"We all went bowling, remember?"

"But that was with all of us! What about just the two of you?"

Karmi looked away, a small blush on her cheeks. "I don't think we've really done anything."

"You two should go out and do something, then."

"You mean...like a date?"

"No, not that." Honey Lemon zoomed in on her map of San Fransokyo, pointing to various spots on her screen. "I mean just go out to the city and...talk. Walk around the park. Go grab food. Enjoy each other's company. Don't talk about school or work. Just get to know one another."

"Those sound a lot like date things," Karmi said worriedly.

"Just don't call it a date, then. Call it a...'friend excursion'."

Karmi raised her eyebrow at Honey Lemon.

"OK, you can come up with a better name than that later. Just promise me something." The blonde put her hand on her shoulder. "Promise me you'll at least try it, OK? By the end of the semester?"

Karmi smiled at her. "I'll...try."

"Good."

The two got up from their stools and tucked them into the table. There was no way for any of their tests to continue; the two were all tired out.

"Can you do one more thing for me, Karmi?"

"Yeah."

Her vision filled up with a dustpan and brush, held by the outstretched arms of Honey Lemon.

"...Clean up the mess you made before we leave?"

Karmi laughed, taking both instruments from her hands. "Yes, Mom."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This series of stories was not intentionally meant to be a sort of "Karmi Pity Party". To be fair, you can see the steps that she's trying to make when it comes to friendship, especially in "Prey Date" and this episode with Honey Lemon. I think that she's made a very large jump in these few episodes, and I hope that it only get better for her from here. Karmi has been a great person to focus on for these stories, so we'll see if next week will continue that trend.

And I am so glad that it's Honey Lemon is the one that's starting the change her mind. You can see it in her eyes...and everything else. She's the mother of the group; of course she would be the one to do it.

I also want to mention that none of these stories were meant to fix the episodes. I actually thoroughly enjoyed all of the episodes (even the one with Megan), so I don't see myself as trying to change anything. Just supplement it.

Now for a little break until "The Fate of the Roommates" comes out. I may use that time to try to get an update on Part-Time out, but more than likely, it'll just be rest. Gotta get ready for the second week.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.