One week later…
A boy of five in black jeans and a black shirt with a pair of black shades was sitting in a cafe with a man in black clothes like him and a woman in blue clothes. Spread out among the cafe was a man in blue jeans and red muscle shirt with an aviators jacket, a man in jeans and a tan polo, and a bulky man in jeans and a yellow T-shirt.
"So why are we spread out again?" Hunk asked discreetly through his voltcom.
"So we don't attract attention to ourselves, Hunk. What would the cops think if they saw five adults and one kid with enough bruises to give everyone in New York two each? They'd get the idea that we're a gang or something." Daniel explained through Keith's voltcom.
"You've thought everything through, haven't you?" Lance asked.
"No, it's just a strategy idea used by gangs. When gangs meet up with other gangs to discuss stuff, they don't do it one on one. They bring five to eight people with them to proctor the meeting." Daniel replied.
"You've proctored some in the past, haven't you?" Lance groaned.
"A couple." Daniel answered.
~time skip~
Daniel walked between Keith and Lance, eyes sharp for people. He saw a man staring directly at him. Instinctively, his hand went to Lance's hand, and he pressed himself against Lance's leg.
"What is it?" Lance asked quietly.
"The stalker. He's looking at me." Daniel whimpered without moving his mouth a lot.
Lance looked at Keith, who alerted the rest of the force.
"Daniel, I want you to tell me where he is, but don't point at him." Keith said softly as they continued to walk.
"Cafe. Grayish white hair. Pretending to be reading the newspaper." Daniel answered, tilting his head towards the man.
Keith almost dropped his jaw when he saw the man.
"Keith, is that who I think it is?" Lance asked.
"Wade." Keith growled.
"Wade's the stalker?" Hunk asked.
"That's not good." Pidge said.
"Daniel, has this guy ever spoken to you or about you with someone?" Lance asked.
"One time he was talking with a weird looking man… but I can't remember what it was about. I think he said something like hail HYDRA." Daniel mumbled.
"Wade and HYDRA working together is not a good thing." Lance stated.
"Daniel, what were your parents like exactly?" Allura asked.
"I don't know. I was left on the side of the road when I was three. I can't remember them at all." Daniel said, starting to panic.
Lance scooped up Daniel and held him on his hip as they walked. Daniel started to calm down after they walked past Wade.
~time skip~
Keith checked them into a hotel for the night, sensing that Daniel was tired after walking for so long. The room they got had two beds, so Keith took the chair, Lance got an extra pillow and blanket on the floor, Allura got her own bed, Hunk and Pidge shared a bed, and Daniel took to his usual spot of sleeping on Hunk's chest. The boy was small and light enough to where he didn't take up space, and he stayed in his usual fetal position when he slept. Also, Hunk's heartbeat served as a personal lullaby to him. Keith was right when he suspected Daniel was tired, for the boy was asleep before the lights went out.
Keith was concerned about Wade and HYDRA coming after Daniel though. They'd both conduct horrifying experiments on him if they got their hands on Daniel.
"We may be in over our heads." Keith thought to himself before falling asleep.