While Xander and the others were giving Carter and Zelda new tech to play with, Dawn was visiting Charlie in the infirmary. She'd come in to find him crying.
"What's wrong?" She asked gently. "Is something hurting? That weird guy with the glowing eyes said he'd come back tomorrow for another healing session and Xander said he'd bring something from back home that could help you get better. I don't know if the glowing eyes man will keep his word, but Xander never forgets a promise."
"It's nothing anyone can fix." Charlie muttered sadly. "Mother said she has to leave soon, to talk to her people. She promised to come back to visit me, but she also said, I'm going to stay on Earth. She loves me, but I'm human and humans can take better care of me then she can. She's not even sure what food is good for me, but I'm going to miss her. She's Mother."
"I kinda know how you're feeling." Dawn admitted. "I'm not from here myself and my Mom's far away. But I will get to see her soon and your Mother promised she'd come and visit. She isn't leaving you because she wants to leave you, she's leaving you because she's right, humans can take better care you. That's not her fault, she doesn't know enough about humans to be able to take care of you herself. She wants you safe and happy and that proves she's a good Mother."
"I know." Charlie smiled. "She says I'm special and calls me son, I know she loves me. I love her too."
"My Mom calls me her little pumpkin belly." Dawn mumbled. "It's embarrassing. Xander calls me Dawn Patrol or Dawnie and Cordelia calls me Mini Me. I like that best." Dawn grinned. "Since I want to be just like her when I grow up."
"I've met Xander." Charlie told her. "He's got an extra Eye and can see Mother. It's a little bit weird, but not scary, like the glowy eyed people are."
"Yeah, I saw that glowy eyed one that said he'd help you, I was kinda scared too." Dawn shuddered slightly, when she'd first seen him she'd thought he was a new kind of demon, but then she'd found out he was an alien. It didn't change the scary though.
Janet Fraser leaned back in her chair, watching the children from her office. She'd heard their conversation and as a mother herself, by choice like Mother, she found herself sympathizing with the Reetu female. Mother, whatever her real name was, loved the human child she'd created as a desperate gamble to help a people she'd never met and was determined to do everything she could for him. "We'll take care of him, I promise." She hoped Mother heard her. "Mother to mother, I swear to you, we'll make sure he has a good life, parents who love him and everything we can to make him healthy." A gentle touch on her shoulder was the only proof she had that the Reetu had heard her, but it was enough to know they were communicating. Janet went back to working on the report on her computer, while the two children continued to talk as Dawn began telling Charlie what he could expect from life on Earth.
A whistling Xander entered and the two kids looked up. "Xander, is it time to go?" Dawn asked. "Can I come back and visit Charlie? He's my friend now and I want to make sure he's okay."
"Not quite yet, Dawnie and as for you visiting, that's up to your Mom. But I don't see her having a problem with it. I'm just looking for Doc Fraser, I've got a present for her."
"I'm here, Xander." Curious, Janet waved him over. "Why do you have a present for me?"
"I brought tech toys, remember? Since you're one of the ladies I do not want to ever cross, I figured I could stay on your good side if I bribe you with cool medical tech." Xander reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled something out.
"What is it?" Janet didn't recognize the device, it didn't look like anything she currently had in her infirmary.
"It's a medical scanner, made by Stark Industries. Prick a finger, get a drop of blood and it'll give you a break down of everything from any toxins in the blood to cholesterol levels. Basically, it's a lab in a scanner."
"Gimme!" Janet snatched it out of his hands, a device that could do the time consuming lab tests and from a single drop of blood? "Does is need to be programmed or does it come preprogrammed?"
"Preprogrammed, but the programming can be adjusted on what tests you prefer running and it can be programmed for additional tests. I'm not sure how many it's currently programmed to do. Here, I'll let you test on me." Xander held out his finger and stuck it in a slot on the scanner. "Ow!" He pulled back his hand and Janet saw a bead of blood on the tip, before he stuck it in his mouth. "So, am I healthy?" He mumbled around his finger as a readout started moving across the screen. "'Cause Mrs. Summers makes me eat fruit and vegetables, so it better be paying off."
"It's working, oh my God is it working! This one device may be able to save hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in lab costs per patient. And once we can make more, they'll be in every doctor's office in the country. Best present ever!"
"But am I healthy?" He asked the back of the woman rushing out of the infirmary, maybe to talk to Carter or General Hammond. "Well, if I'm not, I'm sure she'll tell me when we come for our next visit. Time to go Dawnie. Charlie, we'll be back soon, we're gonna get you all better, I promise."