Hiro stood in front of Luigi's. Baymax stood beside him, wearing a bow tie.
He smoothed his hair again, or tried to, then walked in.
Luigi's, being the exclusive restaurant it was, required formal attire in order to get in. So Hiro had put on a suit and tie, and had given Baymax the bow tie as a finishing touch.
He walked up to the hostess podium. She looked down.
"Can I help you?" She asked, looking between him and Baymax.
"Reservation for Krei, please." He said.
"That's an exclusive party. Can I see some ID?" The hostess said.
"Sure." Hiro dug in his pocket and brought out his SFIT student ID card. It was to be expected. People were always trying to sneak into this restaurant with out reservations, and he certainly didn't look like he had enough money to afford one.
The waitress took his card and looked at it. Her eyes went wide for a second. Yep, that was definitely him. She cleared her throat.
"Right this way, Mr. Hamada." She said.
She led him down the hallway then up the stairs to the balcony rooms. These were private rooms for things like business meetings, and they overlooked the main dining area.
She led him down the balcony to Room 8 and knocked on the door.
"It's open." Came a voice from inside.
The hostess opened the door and held it open for Hiro. He walked in and saw Wasabi, Heathcliff, and Fred already seated, both wearing suits. Alastair Krei was at the head of the table, reading the newspaper from a few days ago: "New Heroes in Town".
"Hey guys." Hiro said with a smile. They all smiled and greeted him back.
Wasabi got up and fist bumped Hiro, Fred gave him a bro-hug, and Heathcliff gave a little bow. Krei stood up and held out his arm. "Great to see you again, Hiro."
Hiro shook hands with him. "You too. Where are Honey Lemon and Gogo?"
Wasabi spoke up. "They sent a text. The bus is running a bit slow, so they'll be a little late."
"How late?" Hiro asked. Wasabi shrugged.
"Ten, fifteen minutes late?" He said.
Hiro looked at the clock. "We might as well wait, I mean, this concerns them too."
He sat down and started talking with Fred and Wasabi. Baymax was standing in the corner, observing, as he couldn't fit in the chairs.
"Yeah, they gave me a bit of trouble about my beanie." Fred was saying, motioning to his hat. "But I told them that I was already wearing a suit with a bow tie, which fulfilled their dress codes." He finished triumphantly. "So they had to let me in."
"I swear, Fred, in all my years of knowing you, I think I've only seen you take that hat off once." Wasabi said, reaching for an appetizer. "It's almost as if it's fused to the top of your head."
"Maybe it is." Fred said mysteriously. "Maybe it's made of genetically modified cotton, and it fuses to my brain and gives me superpowers!"
He leaned back and paused dramatically. "Maybe 'Fred' is my mild-mannered alter ego, maybe I'm actually a superhero by the name of Hat Man!!"
Hiro smirked. "There's only one problem with that theory Fred."
Fred looked at him. "What?"
"You're already a superhero!"
"Ohhhhh, right!" Fred realized. "Fredzilla!"
Wasabi was looking between them two.
"Really?" He asked. "That's the only thing wrong with that theory?"
"Only one I can thing of." Fred said, turning to face him. "Why do you ask?"
"Never mind."
"So when do we order?" Fred said, turning to Krei. "I'm starving!"
Krei smiled. "I'll press the call button as soon as the girls get here."
Fred slumped back in his chair. "Why does the bus have to be so late?" He asked. "I want to try Italian pizza!"
"But, Fred, you've had pizza for the past 2 days!" Said Hiro.
"That was American pizza. This is Italian! I want to taste their cheese and tomato sauce, and Italian pepperoni!"
"Um, Fred, sorry to bust your bubble, but-" Hiro was cut off by Wasabi elbowing him in his side. He looked at Wasabi.
"Let him order what he wants." Wasabi said with a wink. "Let him learn."
Hiro immediately understood. "Yeah, Fred, you should totally order that!"
Fred was excited. "I will as soon as the girls get here!"
As if on cue, Honey Lemon and Gogo walked in. Honey Lemon was wearing a very brightly colored dress, and Gogo was wearing a grey pantsuit with a purple button-up shirt underneath.
"Hey guys!" Honey Lemon said cheerfully. "Sorry we're late!"
"Bus ran 10 minutes late." Gogo said. "We should've taken my bike."
"All is fine!" Said Krei. "Let's order, then we can get down to business."
MEANWHILE AT THE SAN FRANSOKYO PRISON:
Callaghan stared at the phone number on the card. He had it memorized by now, but he still stared at the card anyway.
It had been a few days since the FBI agent, if he really was an FBI agent, had given him that card, telling him they could use his help.
He sighed and flipped the card over. Blank.
The man had said he could help people. But how could he help people? After the Yokai incident, he was sure people would not want his help.
And who would he be helping? The good guys, or the bad guys? The man had claimed to be from the government, but Callaghan wasn't sure that was true.
And what did he want with the Big Hero 6? What good reason could anyone, government or not, have for wanting to find the Big Hero 6?
But, the fact still stood. The man said he would be helping a lot of people. The man obviously wielded a lot of power over the prison, which is something only a few people could do.
Callaghan thought hard. It couldn't hurt to at least see what they were up to.
Plus, maybe this was a chance to redeem himself.
He got up and banged on the bars to get the attention of the guard.
"Hey!" He yelled.
"Shut up down there! What's with all this rack-" The guard stopped as soon as he saw who had made the noise. He walked up close to the bars and leaned in close.
"What do you need, son?" The guard asked in a faint whisper.
Callaghan swallowed. No turning back. He lowered his voice.
"I need to use the telephone." He whispered back.
BACK AT LUIGI'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT:
"And the police have no idea who's in this 'Big Hero 6' group, and quite frankly, I don't think they're trying very hard to figure it out." Krei was saying as the waiter poured their drinks. "As long as these people keep saving lives and catching criminals, I don't think they could care less."
The team was listening intently, as if this was news to them. Part of it was, Krei had contacts in the police stations across San Fransokyo, and he gathered a lot of his news from them.
There was a good chance the waiters wouldn't tell anyone about their conversations, as there was a confidentiality agreement attached with renting the rooms, but they weren't going to leave anything to chance.
"Pardon me, sir." Said one of the waiters to Krei. "Your food is here."
Krei stopped and smiled at the waiter. "Thank you, good sir. Please bring it in."
The waiter nodded and stepped outside the room. Then a few waiters, all carrying trays of food, entered and began setting them down on the table.
"What's this?" Fred asked as one of the waiters set down a plate with a flat piece of baked bread and some sauce and peppers on top.
"It's your pepperoni pizza, sir!" Said the waiter in an Italian accent.
The waiters left, closing the door, as Fred looked down at his plate in confusion.
"How is this pizza?" He asked.
Hiro laughed. "That's what we were trying to warn you about, Fred. Real Italian pizza is way different from our pizza."
Fred eyed the peppers. "I ordered pepperoni pizza." He said.
"That's what pepperoni is in Italy." Honey Lemon said. "'Pepperoni' means 'peppers' in Italian."
She noticed the team staring at her.
"What?" She asked. "When I was 16, my family took a trip to Europe. We stayed in Italy for a week."
"Learn something new every day." Gogo said, taking a bite of her spaghetti.
Fred took a small bite of his "pizza".
"Blargh." He said, spitting it out and making a face. "Apparently we took their pizza and perfected it, because this does not taste good at all."
Honey Lemon, who had ordered two servings of lasagna, laughed and pushed one of them towards Fred.
"Here. Eat this."
Fred's attitude picked up again. "Lasagna? Awesome! Thanks Honey Lemon!"
He started eating, then stopped.
"Wait, did you know I wouldn't like the pizza?"
Honey Lemon shrugged innocently. "Maaaaybe?" She answered with a smile.
They all laughed. Then Hiro turned to Krei.
"Okay," he said. "Let's talk about this FBI agent."
BACK AT THE SAN FRANSOKYO PRISON:
The guard led Callaghan down the hall to the visitation room. He unlocked the door and they walked in.
The guard motioned to a telephone on the far wall. "There's your phone." He said, taking Callaghan's handcuffs off and turning to walk out the door. "Take your time, Dr. Callaghan."
Callaghan nodded.
"Oh, and Dr. Callaghan?"
Callaghan turned and looked at the guard, who nodded to him with a knowing smile.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you." The guard said as he backed out, closing the door and locking it.
Callaghan turned back towards the phone. He could hear his heart beating. This was definitely against the rules. He had been uncuffed, again, and this time there was no one in the room with him.
Holding the card, he walked over to the telephone and dialed the number. He held the phone up to his ear.
It rang only twice before someone picked up. "Recruitment. This line is secure. Hello?"
Callaghan swallowed. "This is Robert Callaghan." He took a deep breath. "I'm in."
Instantly the door to the prison lobby clicked open, its electronic lock having been unlocked. The door swung wide open.
"Then please exit through the doors on your right, Dr. Callaghan." The voice on the phone said. "Collect your things from the front desk, go out the front door, and get into the vehicle waiting at the gate. This conversation is over."
There was a click as the person hung up. Callaghan looked at the door leading to the lobby. This was it. He took a deep breath and walked through.
The lobby was empty. Not a soul in sight. The security cameras looked like they had been turned off, and there was no sound except his own breathing.
On the counter there was a duffel bag. Callaghan walked up and read the tag.
"Robert Callaghan"
He unzipped it, and inside were all his belongings, even the ones he had in his cell. He zipped it back up and looked around. Still no one in sight.
Shouldering the duffel bag, he walked towards the doors, the exit. They opened on their own before he even reached them, and he stepped through.
Sunlight shone down on his face as he walked through the chain-link tunnel. As he approached the outside gates, and jet black limo pulled up. The driver, who was a very big fella, got out and approached him.
"Um, hello?" Callaghan said. The man ignored him.
"Card, please." He grunted in a deep voice.
Callaghan stared. "I'm sorry, what?"
The man grunted again. "Card," he said simply, pointing to Callaghan's pocket. "In your pocket."
Callaghan reached in his pocket, pulling out the business card with the telephone number on it. The man nodded and he held it out to him.
The driver took it and pulled up one of his sleeves, revealing an ordinary-looking watch. He waved the card over it.
Beep!
The watch face flashed green. The man handed the card back to Callaghan, then motioned for him to follow.
Callaghan followed, getting in the back of the limo. He looked down at the card as they drove away. His eyes widened. It had changed again. The silver phone number had been replaced by big, bold letters written in black.
"Welcome to EAGLE, Dr. Callaghan."