Hiding

I woke up to the sound of hushed voices. I kept my eyes closed as I tried to guess where I was. The bed I was laying on was soft and there was an overwhelming smell of chemicals in the room. It didn’t smell like a hospital though, my second guess was a laboratory, but why would I be in a lab ? The drugs the long-haired man gave me clearly didn’t work, maybe they kidnapped me to do more tests ? 

Suddenly, I heard a voice, louder than the others. It was a masculine, kind of robotic voice. “Sir, Doctor Banner, the child is showing signs of regaining consciousness. I thought you would want to be aware of that to avoid scaring him.” The voice seemed to come from the ceiling. I started to freak out a little. I was still faking sleep, how did this person know I woke up ? And again, why did they call me “child”? To try and stay calm, I attempted to remember who Doctor Banner was, the name seemed familiar but I wasn’t sure of where I heard it. I heard some more whispers and decided that I probably should start to pretend to wake up.  

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up on the bed. I looked around, it seemed like I was indeed in a lab, there were machines, vials, computers. Two men were standing in the opposite corner of the room, they stayed still as they were looking at me. I kept observing the room, the walls were made of glass and reflected the lab. On the glass wall I could see the reflection of the bed I was sitting on, I raised my head a little and instead of my reflection,  I found a small child looking exactly like me when I was seven years old staring at me. I started to panic way more than before, it seemed like I was deaged but how could that happen? I felt my breath getting faster, I couldn’t control it and thinking seemed impossible. I needed to get out. The two men were still staring at me from across the room, looking like they were going to come near me. 

I stood up quickly, too quickly maybe. My head spinned a bit but I ran for the door anyway, I just wanted to be away from these people and to get my normal teenager body back. I was ready to bolt out of the room but I found out the doors wouldn’t open. I tried to push them and even to break them, but my six years old body didn’t have much strength. Once I accepted that the doors weren’t going to open, I pressed my back on the cool glass and looked at the two tall men. Looking closely at their faces I finally remembered who they were. The shorter one with the curly hair and the white blouse was Bruce Banner, a well-known scientist, especially thanks to his work on the Gamma radiation. The taller one, who looked more annoyed than reassuring, was Tony Stark.

Banner knelt down near me and started to talk. “ Hello kid, a friend found you in the streets, can you tell us your name so we can find your parents ?” 

I found myself unable to answer, wondering what I should do. Should I try to tell them the truth and risk them thinking I’m lying ? Or should I lie and make it seem like I’m just a six years old child ? Before I got the time to think of something to say the doors opened and I felt myself fall backwards. I closed my eyes, apprehending the pain, but it never came as someone caught me before I got to the floor. The person who caught me gently put me back on my feet and walked in front of me. I looked at him and realized he was the boy who found me - Peter I think. He started to talk : “Hi, it’s great to see you are awake !” The teenager smiled warmly at me and even though I knew I shouldn’t trust anybody at the moment, his smile was really nice and I felt myself relax a bit.  “I’m Peter, but you already know that !”

He showed me the two men behind him and said : “They are Mister Stark and Doctor Banner, they are really nice men, they are the ones who healed you ! We should get you back to your parents quickly, I’m sure they are worried. Can you give us your name, it would really make it easier for us to help you !”. 

I refrained from sighing, the teenager spoke way too much and my head still hurt. I looked at the three men standing before me and made my decision after thinking for some long seconds. I broke the silence in the room and said : “My name is Conan Edogawa”. 

The men stared at me and the robotic voice spoke once again : “Sir, I didn’t find any children named Conan Edogawa in any records. Those results seem to indicate that the boy is lying”. 

I glared at the ceiling where the voice came from and stuttered : “ I- I swear it’s really my name !” 

Stark looked at me dubiously, put me on the bed again and told me to wait. I had no other choice but to obey so I waited while the two scientists and the teenager went to the opposite side of the room and whispered together.

After some minutes, they came back and Doctor Banner crouched in front of me. He looked at me, smiled softly and spoke gently : “Hey kid, do you know your parents names? It would be really helpful to get you back to them”.

“No… I don’t remember their names ” I muttered as I feigned crying to gain a bit of time to think of a plausible story. The fake tears blurred my vision but I could see the look of pity Banner had on his face. I threw myself into his arms and allowed big sobs to escape as I rough hands rubbing my back. 

As I continued to cry I felt concerned stares on me and heard Banner shushing in my ears to calm me down. After a while I decided to fake falling asleep. I yawned two or three times, slowed down my breathing and closed my eyes and let my body go limp on the doctor’s shoulders.

I heard a sigh behind me and Stark’s loud voice resonated in the silent room : “I don’t believe him, I don’t care what you two say ! JARVIS didn’t find any records of him, and he can look in the systems of every country you can think of ! And what kind of name is Conan Edogawa anyways? It sounds like a fake name !”

Banner’s hands ran through my hair while he spoke : “Tony, be quiet, I don’t want him to wake up again. He cried so much I thought I would have to sedate him to calm him down.”

Peter’s worried voice was the next to come in the discussion : “What should we do ? Do you think he is lying about his name? But why would he lie about that ? It doesn’t make sense, he is just a small child..” 

Then Stark spoke again : “-Listen, I don’t know why he would lie either but that doesn’t mean I believe him. We have to find his parents and give him back to them, while we search we will have to contact CPS.”

-Can we keep him while we find his parents? Foster care sucks Mister Stark, pleaded Peter. 

-We will have to see what my lawyers can do, and I don’t want the brat in the tower for longer than necessary, there is too much danger here, so you’ll have to ask your aunt if she agrees to be his guardian.

-Thank you Mister Stark ! I’m sure she will agree, I’ll call her now.” Peter said before leaving the room. 

“Bruce, keep an eye on the kid, I’ll call my lawyers” said the inventor, he then left before the doctor even had time to answer. 

Banner put me down on the bed. He sat down next to me and then spoke, his quiet voice sounding loud in the silent room : “ I know you are awake, Conan.”