Alternative Care

Chapter 15

Hiro and his friends sat at their usual rectangular table and glanced over occasionally whenever someone entered or left the cafe, which let in the sounds of mild traffic outside. After a short wait, three familiar ladies entered. Each wore comfortable yet stylish outfits suited for spring weather.

Alex, in the lead, spotted Hiro's group and waved to them excitedly. She walked to their table, followed by Sam and Clover, and they smiled at the gathered friends.

"We made it!" Alex said musically, "thanks to our jet ride from WOOHP."

"Hey, thanks for coming," Hiro replied happily. He looked outside in curiosity. "Um, where'd you park?" he said with a confused look.

"Oh, we put it on auto pilot back to WOOHP," Sam explained, "it goes at very high speed. We'll just call it back when we're done."

Hiro and his friends were stunned for a moment. Clover smiled and looked to the front register.

"C'mon girls, let's go order some drinks. Be right back," she said.

She walked with Sam and Alex to the register, which drew the attention of a few male customers. Cass finished a phone call and smiled at the lively trio that approached her front counter.

"Hi, welcome to Lucky Cat Cafe," she said warmly, "I guess you know Hiro and his friends?"

Sam, hands clasped behind her back, nodded. "That's right. We're visiting from L.A., met at the Expo, and... worked together on a project," she said brightly, "I'm Sam, that's Alex, and that's Clover." She gestured to herself and each friend in turn.

"Well good to meet you," Cass said hands on her hips, "What can I get you girls?"

They studied the menu, ordered drinks, and walked back to join the others. Three empty seats were available at the small wood table pushed next to their rectangular one. But Alex veered over to the window counter, her attention focused on the chubby bobtail calico cat there that rested contently. She stopped in front of the feline and glanced over to Hiro.

"Ooh, is that your cat?" she asked emphatically.

Hiro chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, that's Mochi. You can pet him if you want."

"Thanks," she replied, looked back to the pet, and slowly held out her hand to him. He gazed at her and sniffed her hand in curiosity. Alex gently stroked him, which caused him to purr.

"He's so cute," Alex gushed, then reluctantly left him to sit with the others nearby. "My major is Veterinary Science," she confided to Hiro and the others.

Go Go's brows raised in surprise. "Huh, and I thought it'd be something more related to your..." she looked from Alex to glance to where the nearest customer was sipping a coffee, "secret work." Go Go smiled knowingly, then drank some of her tea.

Sam brightened a bit at that. "Funny thing is, we all have different majors. Mine's a double major in International Relations and Physics. Minor in Journalism," she said. Hiro and the others looked at her in slight surprise.

"Fashion Design," Clover said and raised a hand in a quick gesture. "We just ended up being trained by WOOHP when we started high school."

"That young?" Honey asked, eyes wide, "that must've been intense." She wrung her hands in concern and gazed at them with empathy.

"Yeah, it was," Clover replied quietly. "But we managed. And helped out all over the world for... almost seven years now."

Wasabi looked at them in silent admiration, then finished off his drink. "Now that's some serious experience. We've been at this, uh, less than a year," he said and glanced to his friends. Fred nodded in agreement, then looked to the girls.

"I've got to hear your origin story," Fred pleaded eagerly, and leaned forward.

"And I've got to hear yours," Alex replied and gestured with a hopeful look.

"Girls, your drinks are ready," Cass called out from the register.

"Hold that thought," Alex chirped and pointed at Fred. She, Sam, and Clover stood and walked over to Cass to get their drinks.

"They're so nice. I'm glad we worked together," Honey said, and looked from the girls to her friends.

"I agree. We learned a lot from them as well. And yeah, they're pretty amazing," Hiro glanced over to them as they got their drinks, forced himself to not stare, and looked back to his friends.

"As long as we don't go soft," Go Go said and nudged Hiro, "they won't be around the next time."

"No prob," Wasabi chimed in, "maybe next time we can return the favor and help in L.A." Go Go looked dubiously at him. Thus far all their hero work was confined to San Fransokyo.

The girls returned with their drinks and took their seats. "Did I hear L.A.?" Sam asked.

"Oh just saying if you ever want us to help return the favor someday, and there's no trouble here in S.F., maybe we can drop by. Or just visit your college," Wasabi said and gauged his friends' expressions.

"Definitely," Clover replied, "you've got to see Mali-U." She leaned forward, glanced at Hiro and his friends, and ended with with Wasabi. "FYI, I love sushi," she said with half-lidded eyes. Wasabi smiled in response and remembered to breathe.

"Yeah, me too," Go Go said flatly, looked at Clover evenly, then finished off her tea.

Clover looked at Go Go in concern. "Actually, we haven't told you something pretty important," she said with a sigh. "We're from an alternate reality; one where San Francisco exists instead of San Fransokyo." She looked at the shocked expressions of everyone, and understood how Jerry must have felt yesterday when they were told of the mission.

A/N: Thanks for reading.  What did you think?  Please vote and comment if you like!