When All Q Breaks Loose

Chapter Twenty Three: Except For Hiro

By the time the group returned to Fred's place, Hiro was more than fed up with the car seat. He scowled as he folded his little arms across the chest buckles, refusing to look at anyone in the car. This was far from anything he would ever remotely call fun. Even Deanna and Baymax had trouble soothing him back to some semblance of calm.

"Sounds like the little dude needed a longer nap," Fred commented as he watched Hiro swing his legs in a decidedly agitated manner. The pout didn't help.

Hiro growled as he glared at the mascot. "No me nap! You nap!"

Deanna let out a sigh as she took in the small boy's current state. "That's not really helpful," she commented. Hiro's emotional state seemed on the verge of becoming far from stable and she wanted to avoid that as much as possible. "No one's going to force you to take a nap," she soothed the irate child. She moved to undo the buckles, accidentally pinching Hiro's skin in the process.

"Ow! Ow!" Hiro howled, and then he burst into tears.

When Fred looked on with an incredulous face, Baymax decided to come to his young charge's defense. "Younger children have more sensitive skin," he stated. "What Hiro needs is comfort."

Finally free of the stupid chair, Hiro launched himself at Baymax's chest, where he clung to the vinyl belly like a monkey. He held out his injured arm, showing the slight welt where he'd been pinched. "Owie!" he announced. For the briefest of moments, all rational thought slipped from his mind.

While Baymax made random motions meant to sooth the crying tot, the others exited the vehicle and looked around. Wasabi had pulled up next to the limo and he and Honey Lemon both climbed out of the vehicle. "What in the world?" Wasabi asked at the sound of Hiro's wailing. "Okay, who did what to Hiro?"

The next moment, Hiro was giggling as Baymax tickled his tummy with one vinyl finger. "Stop! Stop!" But when the robot ceased his tickling, the little boy looked at him like he was crazy. "Mow! Mow!"

Wasabi couldn't help but stare in shock at this rather unusual display. Part of him couldn't help but wonder if the energy hadn't made him bipolar on top of everything else. "Is it just me or is Hiro acting and sounding more like a two-year-old?"

"It's not just you," the Doctor whispered in his ear, his light brown hair momentarily brushing against the man's cheek as his bow tie knocked into his shoulder.

Deanna folded her arms as Wasabi jumped. That man with the bow tie was sometimes more childish than most teenagers she knew. "It's not entirely surprising, given the circumstances. Hiro's mind is trying to cope with the changes made to his body. It has no point of reference to draw upon except previous experiences at that age. Unfortunately, the chances that he'll continue to regress are high. The important thing is for us to not make a big deal about it and to try and treat him no more differently than before. While he may look and behave like a child, his intellect and everything that makes Hiro who he is, is still in there somewhere."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," the blue-clad Doctor said as he strode over to the group. "No one likes to be treated like someone younger than they are inside. That being said, certain precautions might still need to be kept. You know, for the sake of his size and decreased motor skills. And you will need to be prepared for stronger emotional reactions. With more limitations than he's used to, he'll have to resort to different ways to try and get across what he wants to tell us."

Baymax continued to tickle Hiro as he headed into the mansion. Gales of laughter filled the air as the little boy squirmed. The sound immediately stopped once the robot walked through the door and Hiro's little voice could be heard in the sudden silence. "Uh oh." There was a slight pause before he continued in a more chagrined tone. "Wet."