Alternative Care

Chapter 16

"Whoa..." Fred replied. "Now we've got to visit them!" he said excitedly to his friends.

"Alternate dimension?" Wasabi said quietly.

"Guess it wouldn't have worked out, huh?" Clover replied. "Besides, I think you two would make a great couple," she said slyly and gestured to Wasabi and Go Go. They both looked from her to each other curiously.

"Ha, well..." Sam trailed off uncomfortably, "Siu made or found the portal to our dimension somehow, stole stuff, then came back here. By the way, the portal's above Coit Tower in our dimension... Uh, it's a really tall round pagoda here in San Fransokyo."

Hiro looked at her intently and thought back to the dimension Baymax and he traveled to when they rescued Abigail Callahan.

"We'll look into it. Maybe Baymax can get it on sensors. And we'll be safe in these suits if we go through," Hiro said. He looked to his friends who had varying expressions of concern and excitement.

"Well, wish I could say goodbye to Baymax before we go. He's incredible. I guess you guys built him?" Sam asked.

Hiro looked at her sadly. "Actually, my brother did. Then after my brother was gone, I ended up becoming his friend and training him," he said and polished off his smoothie. "Baymax was lost, but I built a new one since he passed on his original personality chip to me just before it happened."

"Wow," Sam said quietly. Clover and Alex nodded slightly, captivated.

"By the way, Baymax got those chips out of Fred and the CuraTech guys," Hiro said more cheerfully. "Too bad we couldn't get the real mastermind yet though."

"Yeah, we'll just have to be ready if he tries anything again," Wasabi said.

"In the meantime, back to normal life, huh?" Alex said. "We really don't get many missions anymore," Sam and Clover nodded to her, then looked to the others, shrugged, and smiled.

"Things seem to be getting busier for us though," Honey Lemon said with concern.

"Hang in there girl," Clover said, and looked reassuringly to her. "We've managed to survive this long despite how tough it got." She looked meaningfully to Sam and Alex, then to Hiro and his friends. Her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh!" she said, reached into her purse, and brought out a pink hairpin. She studied it briefly and handed it to Honey, who looked at Clover in curiosity.

"Ah, thanks," Honey Lemon replied with a slightly confused expression.

Clover smiled knowingly in response. "It's an anti-mind control gadget. You just stick it in your hair, and presto," she explained and gestured to her head. "We've been mind controlled too many times in the past, and now Fred and his butler have had to go through it too. Though they had that armor stuff..."

Sam and Alex were a bit surprised at Clover gifting a WOOHP gadget but smiled in agreement.

"Hm, instead of just Honey Lemon..." Hiro trailed off, who looked from the gadget to his friends, "what if I study this and try to integrate its tech into our helmets?" Everyone looked impressed at that, and Honey gave him a shoulder hug.

"Genius!" she said affectionately to him. "Thanks so much," she said and looked from Hiro to the girls. "So it's okay to give us this?" Honey Lemon asked, and glanced down at the hairpin.

After a moment, Sam nodded. "Sure. I mean, we've saved so many lives, cities, countries, and yeah-- the world over the years that we get some special treatment on stuff like this."

"And the jet," Fred replied and pointed to Sam, "this special treatment, though, are you sure it's not because you three are incredibly gorgeous and have like, infinite charisma?"

The girls beamed in response and Wasabi blinked in surprise. "Hey Fred, when did you become a charmer?" He clapped a hand on Fred's shoulder and smiled.

Everyone chuckled at that, drinks were eventually finished, and after some more small talk, the girls stood to leave. The spies gave out hugs to everyone, even Go Go, then made for the exit. Alex, however, lightly bumped her foot on a chair leg in her path that she failed to notice.

"Ow," she said, feeling a bit foolish.

The cafe was relatively quiet, and soft footsteps could be heard in the distance. Baymax descended from the upstairs living area and carefully avoided tables and chairs as he made his way to Alex.

"Hello. I was alerted to the need to check on your condition when I heard you say 'ow'," he said.

Everyone smiled at the robot's natural concern.

"Oh, hi Baymax," Alex replied and stretched out her leg to show her foot, "I just accidentally kicked a chair leg." She smiled and wiggled the foot to show it was fine.

"How would you rate your pain on a scale from one to ten?" he asked her innocently.

"A one. I'm fine," she looked off thoughtfully. "But I'm glad you came down to check on me. Now we can say goodbye to you," she said, and held his hand affectionately. Sam and Clover joined Alex beside the robot and all hugged him simultaneously.

"I hope you help lots of people in real pain in the future," Sam said and looked at him warmly. They released their hug and Baymax nodded in agreement. Everyone walked to the door and waved to Cass, who watched from the register.

"Bye!" Sam, Alex, and Clover said to her as Alex opened the door.

"Goodbye! Thank you!" Cass called back cheerily.

The large group stood out on the nicely landscaped sidewalk and took in the fresh air and sounds of activity in the neighborhood.

"I called the jet back, so it's time for our goodbyes," Clover said with a sad smile.

"Til next time, as long as the portal's around. Right everyone?" Hiro asked his friends.

"When we get a break from school, and if we still can, we should go for it," Honey said excitedly. The others agreed.

Everyone gave their goodbyes, and the girls walked back behind the cafe. The familiar jet flew into the sky, which drew the glances of a few pedestrians. Unseen to them was a vacuum tube that extended out from the underbelly of the plane behind the two story cafe. The spies were sucked up by a strong current of air into the plane, and after a moment, the jet flew off.

"Wow, that was something," Hiro said after the plane vanished. "Time to go do our own thing, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya guys at school," Go Go said. "Hopefully no emergencies for a while."

Wasabi nodded and turned to her. "I hear ya. Hey, let me give you all a ride back home," he said. Go Go smiled and they all walked to his car parked nearby. "See you!" he called out to Hiro and Baymax.

"Bye!" replied Hiro.

Fred looked to Honey Lemon. "And a ride home for you, m'lady?" he gestured theatrically to the limo (driven by Heathcliffe), and she chuckled.

Hiro turned to Baymax and led him back inside. "Up for some work on that helmet modification?"

"Of course, Hiro. Protecting one's body and mind is a worthwhile pursuit."

"You said it," Hiro replied and smiled as they returned to the cafe, ready to take the next step.

A/N: I appreciate you reading the whole thing.  Hope you enjoyed.

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