This is in answer to Cheesycheeselovr's challenge to write a story based on a quote. Well, this isn't quite a quote. It's a whole song. I have a problem with taking just a snippet of something out of context, hence the whole song. So this is more of a character study rather than a story.
Anyway, I've been toying with this for awhile ever since I heard this song. I really love HOLIX and I came up with all sorts of stories, points of views, etc based on various songs. But they were my own private thoughts and wasn't sure if I wanted to share them. I hope you like it and I hope no one else did this already.
BTW this covers everything from Season 1 to my made-up Season 4. If you don't want spoilers don't read the last part.
** I had to remove the lyrics because it violates Content Guidelines of not copying lyrics into stories. Sorry, if you want to listen to the song which is beautiful you can search for it on the internet. It's called Bless the Broken Road by Marcus Hummon, Bobby boyd, and Jeff Hanna. Rascal Flatts did a cover of this.
I do not own any of the characters.
When Six first laid eyes on Holiday he thought she was just another lab assistant. No one special. Just another peon following orders from her boss Dr. Fell. Six didn't have much of an opinion on the man. He was supposed to be the best at what he does. But his focus was on dissecting EVOs to study their nanites. He didn't seem to care that these monsters were once people. Six had a personal interest in his research but he was starting to lose hope. Day in and out, it was the same. When they stopped one rampaging EVO, another would pop up to take its place. It was never ending and they were getting no where. He was thinking these thoughts when he and his partner stood in Fell's lab watching the spider EVO they had just caught being disassembled molecule by molecule. His glance fell on the only female in the room but in his mind he dismissed her as another faceless employee of Providence.
Then he saw her eyes for the first time. He felt his heart skip a beat when she flipped her hair casually to the side. He told himself to stop being ridiculous. It was just another scientist. But then he heard her voice her opinion on the course the research was taking. She thought that these monsters should be kept alive. It was the first time he felt his spirit lift. There was someone who seemed to think there was another way. So he watched her, watched for an opportunity to talk to her. He wanted her to clarify what she said. He got his chance when she dropped all the paper she was carrying. He picked up her clipboard.
She was hostile towards him… called him a hired gun. He didn't blame her. How many times have people laughed at her? Told her she was a bleeding heart. But he had to show her he was different.
"It's Six. And I don't use guns."
They talked and he perked up when he heard her use the magic word… cure. It didn't alleviate the tension though. Holiday kept him at arms length. He was sure his partner made it worse when he showed up to get him, another rampaging monster to terminate. She lumped them both together in the same category. But he kept her in the back of his mind.
The monster turned out to be a ten year old boy. He wasn't sure what he should do. The boy was annoying but there was something about him that tugged at something that Six thought he had lost a long time ago. Then the boy shocked him by curing another monster. His first thought was not to bring him to Fell but to the woman scientist he'd just met.
Holiday was not happy about taking time out to bandage the boy. But when he showed her what Rex could do…
She shocked him by suddenly hugging him. He went stiff and stood there like an idiot. His brain stopped functioning and his limbs would no longer obey him. Luckily, Rex interrupted her. She was on board with keeping Rex a secret and finding a way to utilize his gift without letting Fell know.
Unfortunately, White Knight found out about Rex. There was an epic fight with his partner but in the end Rex saved the day. However, his relationship with his partner and friend was perhaps irrevocably damaged. Still, for the first time since this insanity started there was hope… thanks to the EVO boy and the woman scientist.
0o0
Then came the years he and Holiday had to raise the boy. Well, she called it raising. He called it training. There were many arguments, disagreements, days when she made him so angry he almost couldn't think straight. All through it he managed to keep his stoic exterior intact. The façade was so convincing that everyone thought that he had no feelings. Except it wasn't true. He was fighting them everyday. His feelings for both of them were growing. It was easier to lie to himself about the boy. He never was the "kid" type and Rex wrecked enough of his things that it was easy to stay irritated at him. But with Reb… Holiday, he found himself admiring her intelligence, her compassion, her dedication; basically, everything about her drew him to her. Yet he had to keep his distance. It wouldn't do to be unprofessional. It was just a job after all. People who got close to him tended to get hurt. And he didn't want to hurt her.
0o0
When Rex was old enough to start taking the field, Holiday was there making sure the boy was fine, monitoring him like a hawk. She defended his tendency to run away, fought to get him a bigger room, and tried to explain to him about teenagers. Six scoffed. He knew about teenagers. They were reckless and undisciplined. Rex needed more training so he could become a better soldier. When he was in Cabo though, he had an epiphany. When Six saw Rex mooning over that EVO girl, he knew Holiday was right. Rex was a teenager. To treat him as anything but, would only serve to isolate him. Six started to change his tactics. Slowly at first, though, because it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Not that he was that old per se. It worked but it had a draw back. He realized he actually liked the boy. Perhaps he always did. But it was becoming more apparent now and to his surprise the boy liked him too. Six did his darndest to protect him, guide him, and teach him about life. He was becoming a son to him. And Holiday… the boy hit on her constantly. It was pretty hilarious really and Holiday took it in stride. She put him down gently or not so much sometimes. But Rex knew Holiday would always care for him no matter what. So he felt safe trying out lines that would get him slapped in most cases. Freud would have a field day analyzing that.
What about him? He still tried to keep her at a distance but he could no longer ignore the flutter in his heart and the knots in his stomach. She was always surprising him. He had thought she was just a scientist, not much of a fighter until he saw her with a firearm. Her aim was accurate and deadly. He found himself glad to have her on his side in a fight.
Then they almost died. The corrupt nanites were suffocating them. He instinctively reached out to her, looking for her. If they were going to die, he wanted to know she was near. When he found her hand, it made death seem a little less frightening knowing they were together. He knew his walls were crumbling. So he hastily threw up another, afraid of what would happen if he let her in.
0o0
Branden Moses came into the picture. At first he was jealous at the way she fawned over him. When Moses showed up and he got a chance to meet him, alarms went off. Six had met his share of oily men in his lifetime and he was the oiliest. There was no way to approach this gently so he cut to the chase. It turned out exactly as expected. She grew angry at him… yelled at him even. It hurt, but there was no time to dwell on it. He had to prove that Moses was a fraud.
He couldn't blame her. He understood the desperation and pain she was going through. When her sister first went EVO, White Knight was going to kill her when it was discovered she was an incurable. He saw her cry for the first time. She didn't know he saw her. She was trying to hide it from everybody but he was a ninja. He had come to see her in her lab about some paperwork. He had already walked through the door but the crying stopped him in his tracks. Everyone of those heart wrenching sobs tore at him. Instead of going to comfort her he quietly walked out. He went to White Knight, worked out a deal, then presented it to Holiday. She was wary but grateful. Six didn't feel like a hero. He felt like he doomed her to a life in Providence. But she took that in stride too. Doubling her effort now to find a cure, she rarely slept. It broke his heart to find her asleep in her lab or working herself to death. Then came the opportunity to cure her sister. He couldn't blame her for jumping at the chance but he didn't trust that Branden. He wanted to be wrong but he wasn't. For once he really wished he was wrong. Holiday almost gave up. He couldn't let her do that. He dropped the last of his crumbling walls and reached out to her.
She cured her sister that day. He almost died. But it was most assuredly worth it. He saw her smile for the first time… really smile since all this started. It made him realize if he was willing to give up his life for her what was stopping him from giving up his life to her. So he did.
0o0
Then he had to do it all over again. Because of Rex's stupid brother, he lost all those memories of her. But he never lost the feelings. It confused him especially when she rejected his advances. He was hurt and threw up walls again. But little by little he found himself falling for her all over again especially after they spent all that time together looking for Rex. His walls were crumbling. He'd give anything to get even a sliver of memory of her back because it seemed like she didn't care for him in the least. He couldn't figure out what it was about this new him she disliked. He worked hard at trying to be like the old him. Still she was wary of him.
When he was sure they were going to be killed by those inferno mummies, he wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. But then afterwards he chickened out.
The whole Scarecrow incident confused him even more. He was ready to kill the shape-shifter for messing with their heads. Worse was Holiday pulling away from him even more. He had no idea how to talk to her. He was never good with feelings. So they danced around each other never addressing what they were feeling. (He had forgotten that they had done this before in the past.) It was easier to focus on saving the world from the Consortium. Still there were days when he thought she did care for him. But something always held them back.
After the World-Wide Cure Event and the initial euphoria, there wasn't time to even talk to her. It was Rex's moment. It wasn't the right time to broach the subject. He told himself a million different excuses of why he can't talk to her. So he waited and bided his time.
0o0 (Spoilers for made-up Season 4)
Unfortunately, it was never a good time. When things began to calm down, he found he still couldn't do it. Finally, he built up enough courage to tell her when they were interrupted. The arrival of an old friend convinced him that he had to protect her from his past. So he pulled away and she left. He told himself it was for the best. Six worked hard to believe his own lies. When David showed up he couldn't fool himself any longer. He loved Rebecca… always had and always will. However, it was too late… or so he thought. In a round about way, he found out that Rebecca loved him too. He would not squander this opportunity. So he found her. And he did something he should have done a lifetime ago. He kissed her. It was the end of the first part of the journey they were on together.
And the beginning of the new journey they were about to take.
