"Never Give A Short Red-Haired Scientist Too Much Free Time"
(3/?)

Kiyone stood near the doorstep, leaning against the house and
thinking about what she'd just seen. How the heck was she going
to report this? Why did Washu always have do stuff like this to
her? Pulling her out of the bath had been bad enough, but
this...!

"Oh well," she sighed, "I guess I should be grateful it wasn't
Mihoshi." She smiled, weakly, to no one in particular. 

She stood there for a bit more. Then, a sense of curiosity 
overcame her, and she went back into the house.

"Oh, Kiyone," Washu waved to her, "welcome back."

Kiyone nodded, then turned her attention to the two furry 
toddlers who were playing, happily, together.

"Aren't they cute?" Washu cooed.

As she watched them, Kiyone had to admit that they were.

Kiyone's Galaxy Police watch twittered. She pressed it. "Yes?"

"One of our sensors is picking up Operative A's DNA patterns.
They're a bit weak, so we think he may be injured. I want you to
find him as quickly as possible."

"He's right here, sort of." Kiyone hedged, trying to think of how
to tell them what had happened. 

"Well, tell him to to report to me at once. I have an assignment
for him."

"But..."

"AT ONCE" Kiyone's superior ordered, disconnecting before Kiyone
could get any further.

"Why don't you bring him to your commander," Washu suggested,
nodding toward the Draalthi toddler.

"That's not a bad idea." Kiyone smiled. "Once he sees that..."

"Ryomitsu." Washu offered helpfully.

"Ryoko, Ryo-ohki, Ryomitsu..." Kiyone mused. "I'm starting to see
a pattern here..."

"That's just your imagination." Washu grinned. "You were 
saying?"

"Once the commander sees that Ryomitsu is just a toddler, he'll
probably send him right back here."

"Of course he will!" Washu laughed. 

Washu went over to where Ryo-ohki and Ryomitsu were playing. She
picked up the latter of the two and handed him to Kiyone. "Hurry
back." She told the First Class Detective. "I don't want him to
miss supper."


***

About an hour or so later, despite the fact that the walls in the
new Galaxy Police Headquarters were thick enough to be
effectively sound-proof, persons walking by heard the voice of
the commander blurting out the word: "WHAT?!" in a very
astonished tone.

Inside the office in question, the Commander was staring at
Kiyone who was standing across the desk from him with a small
Draalthi in her arms. 

"We'll just have to speed-grow him," the Commander sighed.  

"Sir" Kiyone replied, "given the nature of his regeneration, not
to mention its source, I don't think that's a good idea, or even
possible."

The Commander would not be deterred, however and Kiyone soon
found herself watching as the toddler lie, was placed in one
speed-growing compartment after another. 

The only result of this was that Ryomitsu was getting very 
scared. He started to cry.

"We can't get a cellular lock, sir." The scientists finally gave
up after a dozen or so tries. "I don't understand it."

"Sir," Kiyone said, quietly, "with all respect, I'd like to take
this child back to Earth now."

The Commander sighed. "Very well. He's certainly not going to be
a very effective Operative for a few years. Assuming he becomes
one at all."

The Commander nodded to the chief scientist, released the 
toddler from the last compartment they'd tried.

The toddler made his way over to Kiyone as quickly as possible
and hugged her leg. He was trembling.

Kiyone bent down and stroked his hair. "I'm sorry,honey." She
told him, soothingly. She blinked. "What am I doing?!" She picked
up the child and brought him back to the Yagami.

***

"Do you really think Kiyone will bring Ryomitsu back?" Ryoko
asked. "Won't the Galaxy Police just force grow him to adulthood?
They must have that much technology!"

"They have it, but in this case they can't use it." Washu 
replied. "I deliberately engineered his cells so they can't be
altered in any way by any type of machine."

"What did you go and do that for?" Ryoko demanded, hearing and 
ignoring the knock at the door.

"If I'd wanted him to be an adult, I would've made him one." 
Washu replied with a shrug. She went to the door and opened it.

"Of course." Ryoko gave up.

Kiyone walked in an set Ryomitsu down. The toddler immedeately 
went into the living room and began playing with Ryo-ohki, happy 
to be back home.

"What did you do to him?" Kiyone asked. "We couldn't force grown 
him at all. Couldn't even get a lock."

"I want him to have a normal life..." Washu explained,

"Fat chance of that around here." Ryoko remarked.

Washu ignored her, "...and I don't intend to let anything 
interfere with that. Besides, I didn't go through all that just 
so he could turn around and get himself killed again two minutes 
later."