When All Q Breaks Loose

Chapter Twenty Seven: Don't Have That Much Time

The two Doctors felt rather proud of themselves when they triumphantly returned to the Manor. However, the overall atmosphere only seemed to dampen their exuberance. And when they learned about what had happened to Wasabi, Data, Deana, and GoGo, they both wisely chose not to mention anything about their day.

When asked, one merely shrugged while the other simply said, "Oh, it was a bit of a wibbly wobbly one." And neither had the extra TARDIS with them, which had been the point of the whole mission in the first place.

"Couldn't get her out," the blue clad Doctor admitted. "She's stuck tight until she wants free."

That comment earned the both of them some odd looks from the Enterprise crew. Q seemed rather intrigued by the idea though, and was about to ask for more details when Worf rounded on him. He'd been sulking ever since. To be fair, Worf had kept him on a very tight leash as of late.

By the time the evening meal was ready, several members of their group were more than ready to call it a day. Deanna's neck and shoulders still hurt from the accident. GoGo was no longer seeing double, but her head was killing her. And Wasabi hadn't come out of his room since he'd gone there after returning to the Manor. Data, for his part, was still unaffected by events, other than to observe just how much of a disappointment it was that it had brought things to an end sooner than he'd have liked.

At the table once more, Hiro played with his mashed potatoes and peas, driving the little green orbs around his plate like cars. He looked just as bored as he felt. And even the sliced chicken couldn't lighten his mood. If he was being honest, he'd admit to feeling a strange sort of buzzing in his head but didn't have the words to express it.

"Looks like someone's sulking," Honey Lemon whispered to Deanna, who couldn't help but look up at the comment.

Since the party had increased in size, they'd opted to move back into the dining room for the more formal meals, mainly dinner. Even so, they didn't take up even half of the long table, mostly because no one wanted to maintain too large of a gap between their neighbors.

Deanna observed the young boy as he scowled at his plate. She'd noticed him acting more and more like a two-year-old, and less like a more mature teen-aged leader. This was decidedly disconcerting. "It definitely looks like it, doesn't it? We're going to have to do something soon or he might just revert back to this age permanently."

Her comment caused those nearest her to look up, mainly Fred, Baymax, and Honey. Hiro, though close, ignored all of them as he continued to push his peas around his plate. He had way too much on his mind to bother with idle chatter. He'd felt a funny sense of pressure since the others had come back and it was more than distracting. He just couldn't figure out what it was. The buzzing didn't help, making him feel almost nauseous.

"Hiro," Honey worried, "You really should eat something." She reached for his smaller spoon, only to have him knock her hand away

"No!" Hiro gave her an angry glare, mashed potatoes now on his nose.

Honey tried again, wondering what had gotten into her friend. "Hiro, please," she begged. "Please try something." She moved the spoon towards his mouth once more.

This time Hiro slammed his hand against hers, knocking the spoon to the floor. But he didn't stop there. A rage seemed to build inside his tiny body, his whole frame shaking with it. Then he let out a huge scream as he picked up his plate and threw it as far as his little arms would let him.

Hearing his outburst, all eyes turned to the boy at the end of the table. Several mouths fell open in shock at the childish display. Those whose jaws hadn't hit the floor stared in frozen horror as mashed potatoes flew all over the table and onto those nearest the child.