…. And I turned into this God-thing, shined bright like a nanite, and cured the whole world. Which is awesome, I guess. I mean, hey! Now no more nanites! No more fighting, no more wars, no more people dying. That's all great stuff… right?
I feel like that's what I'm supposed to believe, but something feels… empty. Wrong. Not quite right. I still feel like every morning, I should be getting up to go cure things. Which, yeah, shit goes on in the world and there's still things I can fight and stuff. I've still got my powers, which is kind of really cool. But, I still feel like I'm out of a job.
No, maybe not. There's still robots and bad people that the regular police force can't handle. There's still a need for Providence, though their staff has been cut in half. With the world not at war with monster things, you just don't need as many people. Besides, you have me, and I'm just plain awesome!
But I don't think that's what's getting at me. Call me selfish, but I think I got the raw end of the deal here. Sure, curing EVOs brings a lot of happiness, but I still don't have my parents. I don't have my memories of my family. What I've got is pretty good, but how long is that gonna last? Cuts are being made all over the place. The second Holiday and Six leave, well… Where do I go?
Here, I guess. In this tripped out awesome room they gave me. But if they're gone, what's stopping anyone from taking my room or working me like a slave? Not that I'm worried about that, but still. As mushy as it sounds, I don't know where I'd be without Six and Holiday. I love Cesar, he's great. But my family, the ones who have been around for as long as I can remember—and would stick around even if I couldn't remember them—is Six and Holiday. And Bobo too. I don't know what I'd do without them, but if things keep going the way they are, I might be close to finding that out.
"Rex." A knock came at the door and a tall, brown haired man in a green suit stepped in. The young teenager looked up from his writing and closed his journal.
"Hey Six. What's up?" He sat up in bed as Six looked over the brown glossy journal the boy had been writing in. He and Holiday had given that to him as a gift, should he ever lose his memories again. The kid came close not a few weeks ago, but thankfully, there was no need to extensively study what was written in the book. Not yet, anyway.
"It's time for dinner."
"Did Holiday cook?" came the immediate question. Six cocked an eyebrow ever so slightly and studied his charge for a long pause.
"No." Rex breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, setting the book on his bedside table.
"Good, because I'm so not in the mood for a stomach ache." He followed Six out of the room, and Six broke a tiny smile he couldn't see before they walked side by side down the hall to the cafeteria.
Rex looked around as though he had never been in these halls before. He had been doing that a lot lately, and Six wondered why. Usually, he zipped down the halls, not caring what—or who—he ran over. Now, he seemed to be taking everything in, as though these halls could be ripped from him in an instant.
"Are you… Okay?" Six asked. Asking people about their feelings was not Six's specialty, but he had been noticing these subtle changes in Rex ever since he cured the EVOs and the world returned to the way it was before the nanite incident.
Rex glanced over at his guardian, a little taken aback by the sudden question. "What? Oh, yeah! I'm cool. I'm just hungry! Is it taco night?"
"No."
"Aww man." Rex pouted, and Six briefly wondered at what age teenagers usually stop pouting. It seemed like a rather childish thing to do. In returning to his initial question, he decided to let the subject drop there. If something was really up, Holiday would get it out of him.
They entered the cafeteria and picked up bowls of pasta before sitting down. They started to eat in silence, Six opening a newspaper and looking through the headlines. Holiday joined a few minutes later and a conversation picked up, focusing mostly on Rex's academics.
"Are you understanding how to find the area of triangles?" Holiday asked and Rex groaned.
"Aw, come on! It's Saturday. Can't we talk about this on Monday?" Rex asked and Holiday frowned.
"Not when you have homework due on Monday and we're moving onto something else." She replied. Rex just groaned again and nodded, hoping to get off the subject of school.
"And how's your English essay coming along?"
"I haven't started it."
"Rex!"
Rex sighed. "Come on, it's not due for another week! Why would I start it now?"
"'If you finish it today, what will you do tomorrow?' as the Thai's say," came a gruff voice from the doorway. Bobo entered and picked up a bowl before sitting down next to Rex. Rex smiled and high-fived him.
"Hey, I like that!"
"I don't. Rex, come on. You can't expect to do a five page paper in one night," Holiday reasoned. "And should something happen that night and you need to take care of something, you won't get it done."
"Relax, sweet cheeks. He'll figure it out." Holiday shot a pointed glare to Bobo, who put his hands up in defense and decided to stop talking.
"Nothing's going to happen, Doc." Rex promised. "Nothing ever does."
"Not true. Last week, you had to deal with the out of control robot downtown." Holiday replied and Rex rolled his eyes.
"Nothing important," he rephrased. "Not since the EVOs were cured." He sounded almost upset by this, which caught Holiday by surprise.
There was a moment of silence at the table before Six lowered his newspaper. "Do you wish you hadn't cured them?" He asked.
Rex was startled by this question and sputtered a bit. "I… I don't… No! I mean…" For a guy of few words, he sure knew how to ask the hard questions.
Holiday looked over at the boy with kind eyes. "Rex, you did a good thing."
"I know."
"You saved the world. Imagine how many people would still be turning, or even be dying had you not cured them."
"I know."
"It gives you time to be a kid. A real kid. With homework due on Monday." She snuck in the comment and gave him a little smirk, but to her surprise, he didn't give a sarcastic response or even smile back. "Rex, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." He responded, typical of a teenage boy not wanting to discuss his problems. Six cocked a single eyebrow over at Holiday and they exchanged glances before she turned her attention back to the boy.
"Rex…" she said. She used a warning tone, but it was laced with kindness and understanding.
"I said, 'nothing.'" Rex looked up at her and seemed to glare. This startled Holiday who was unused to Rex being so hostile. He was usually happy-go-lucky, and even when he was upset with her or Six, he never looked downright angry. Even Bobo looked over at him, wondering what his human companion was thinking.
Before Holiday could say anything, Rex had stood up. "I think I'm going to bed early." He said and walked out of the room. The three remaining watched him go, and none tried to stop him.
"Can we… Talk?"
Holiday looked up from her desk and smiled softly at the man before her. She nodded and pulled a chair up close to her before patting the seat. Six sat down and glanced over the work that she was doing. Paperwork and research, as usual. A woman with three couldn't settle herself down, even at eleven at night.
"About Rex?" Holiday was smart, but it didn't take a genius to know what their discussion would be about. They hadn't seen or heard from the boy since dinner, which was strange. Usually, he pulled an evening prank or insist they go do something fun. If he didn't do one of those two things, he would sneak out with Bobo, but when Holiday checked up on him just a few minutes ago, he was in his room, presumably asleep.
Six nodded and looked out the window. "You're the doctor. What do you think is wrong?" he finally asked.
Holiday leaned back and sighed, following his gaze out the window. The stars were out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The moon shone bright, illuminating the canyon below, though not bright enough to reveal the river at the bottom.
"I'm not sure, Six." She finally said quietly. "He's seen Circe. He's snuck out five times this week. He and Noah seem fine. There doesn't seem to be anything really wrong."
"He's been like this since the incident a few weeks ago. Ever since the EVOs were cured, he's been slowly sinking into a shell." Six commented and Holiday nodded.
"He seems upset about what he did, but that's not like him." Holiday said and Six glanced at her. They shared a moment of eye contact before she continued. "He's a good kid… Not just a good kid, but a good man. He wants what's best for the world and he's never been afraid to put his life on the line. He knew he might not have come out of the battle alive, but that just gave him all the more reason to do it. He's selfless. Naïve, silly, and a teenage boy, but selfless. So to be upset that he saved the world just doesn't seem right. There has to be something more." She paused for a moment. "Maybe an implication to what he did is bugging him. Or, what he thinks an implication is."
"And what is an implication?" Six pressed, but Holiday shrugged.
"Maybe I'm biased, especially since my own sister was affected by the EVO outbreak. So, I can't see any negative implications of what he did. But you don't walk through life with three without realizing that even something that seems so holistically good contains a little bit of bad."
"So, what could the bad thing be?"
Holiday shrugged and chuckled to herself, as though she had a secret and was just about to share it. "That's the funny thing about life. It doesn't teach you to know and identify the bad in the good right away."
Six thought about this for a moment and nodded. Holiday was smart, not just in science, but in life. She was young—they both were—but she had life experience beyond her years. Maybe Providence has a way of doing that to people.
"You should go to bed." Six said after about a minute of comfortable silence. Holiday smiled at him, putting their past discussion behind her.
"You should too." Six cocked an eyebrow and said nothing, so she continued. "You're right, it is late." She stood and collected her work bag. "Come on. If I'm turning in, you are too." She offered him a hand, which he looked at for a brief moment before taking. They stood, but their hands didn't part.
They walked down the halls, hand in hand for a few moments before they reached the residential quarters. They paused at Holiday's door and she swiped her key to open it.
"Rebecca."
Startled at the sound of her own name, she turned and faced Six. He looked for a moment like he was going to kiss her, or at least hug her. But, instead, he simply looked at her for a moment behind his dark glasses before letting her hand go.
"Sleep well."
She smiled at this and nodded, patting his shoulder. "You too."
I shouldn't have snapped at Holiday like that. I just don't know what came over me. I mean, I know she's right. I should tell them what's wrong, why I'm upset but… I can't. It's selfish and bad and I feel like a terrible person. I wish they could understand without me actually having to say it.
Sometimes I wish I was a normal kid. You know, one with a normal life and a family. But then I really think about it, and I realize that I can't image myself in any sort of 'family' without Holiday and Six. Weird, right? I love my real parents, and I miss them, even if I can't remember them. But because I can't remember them, the only family I've really got is Holiday and Six. And Bobo too, but he's slightly irresponsible… Okay really irresponsible. He's like a brother. A brother who's been to jail.
If Holiday and Six leave Providence, I might never see them again. And with the EVOs gone, there's no reason for them to really stay. Six is a supper cool ninja guy, so he could work anywhere, and Holiday has three PH.D's. She should be curing cancer or something.
And then there's me. I can make my hands into giant metal bricks. Yeah, let's put that on a college application and see how far that gets me. Providence is probably the only place that will hire me, and they've treated me more like their machine than a person. I guess that's how they treat everyone, but that's not how Holiday and Six treat me. Even Six with his 'I'm not going to give my emotions because screw you' kind of attitude, I know he cares in his own weird way. They value my thoughts and feelings and want what's best for me.
Rex paused on the period and tried to think of something else to say. He'd been writing his feelings for the past hour and his journal was littered with pencil shavings and scratch marks up until the point where he gave up trying to correct his words. He didn't know why he immediately turned to this journal that he really didn't need. He hadn't lost his memories, and it didn't look like he ever would. And, honestly, this wasn't something he wanted to remember if he ever did forget. But, something about writing it out really helped. Being able to express his thoughts and feelings made him feel a little better and made him wonder if actually telling someone would also help.
Before he had time to ponder this further, there was a tap at the door and Six entered. Rex set down the journal and looked at him. He was quiet for a moment and sat down at the end of the bed, trying to collect his thoughts. Rex waited, quiet for once.
"Holiday is… worried about you." Six finally said.
"I know." He knew Six was too.
"Then you should talk to us… Her about it."
"I don't know what to say." At this, Six rose an eyebrow in a bit of surprise. Rex always knew what to say. Or, better, he always had something to say, even when it was unneeded. For Rex to be at a loss of words… this had to be serious.
After a moment, when he realized Six wasn't going to respond to that, Rex added, "I don't want to sound stupid. Or offend anyone."
Again, strange. The kid was good and nice deep down, but caring whether he sounded stupid or hurt someone usually came after he spoke.
"Try me." Six finally said. Rex paused, studying the emotionless face. Six was right; he needed to say something. He had to let this out, but he couldn't.
There was a few minutes of silence before Six sighed and reached out to touch Rex's knee. In that moment, he looked like a father talking to his son, which, in a strange way was exactly what he was doing.
"You're a good kid," Six finally said. "You have, as they say, a heart of gold. What you have to say matters, at least to Holiday and I. I can't image you saying anything that would make us angry with you, but we can't help you unless you talk to us." He removed his hand and stood up. He waited for a moment, but he knew Rex wasn't going to say anything quite yet. But, Rex did smile and he nodded. Six left him alone to think.
"Rex still hasn't come down for breakfast." Holiday sighed as she cleaned the dishes. "He's always hungry in the morning." She paused. "He's always hungry."
"He'll come around eventually." Six said as he flipped through the newspaper.
"I hope whatever you said helped him." Holiday knew she wasn't going to get a play-by-play account, but trusted Six's judgment.
"It did."
Well, he sounded sure. Holiday finished with the dishes and sat across from him, watching as he turned the large, crinkly pages. She then took out a large book and began to read, letting the only sounds be the hum of the light and the turning of pages.
"Hey guys?" came a small voice about an hour later. "Can we talk?" Rex entered the room and stood in the doorway. Both looked up from their reading and Holiday smiled kindly.
"Of course. Have a seat here." She gestured to the chair next to her, which Rex took. He studied his hands for a moment before speaking, but didn't make eye contact with either of them.
"I've been feeling kind of… Off lately." He began, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. "It's just… there's been so many changes since the… Incident a few weeks ago. Providence is cutting back and there aren't as many bad things going on that local governments can't handle themselves. And, well. I guess I'm a little… Kinda worried about… stuff." He paused and both adults were silent to give him a moment to gather his thoughts.
"I'm just worried that… That things will change too much, you know? That something bad is going to happen like, ah." He was going to say it. He had to. He had to let this out, let it go. And if it were true, he had to face the facts and move on. "I'm worried… scared, that you guys will leave." He said and paused, realizing he hadn't finished his thought. "Will leave me."
Six had set down the newspaper and studied the boy's face for a moment. Holiday nodded solemnly and reached out to put a hand over Rex's.
"Things are changing, Rex," she verified. "And people are leaving Providence. The world is a better place because of you and the good you brought to it. But Rex, let me assure you of one thing. The world is going to change, and Providence will too. But no matter what happens, we will never leave you." She spoke with the ferocity and love that only a mother, or mother-figure, could and looked deep into Rex's eyes. She saw that through all of his strength and goodness, he was still just a boy. A kid. He had a lot to learn about the world and he wasn't learning anything behind the steel walls of Providence headquarters.
Rex nodded and smiled some. "I guess it was kind of stupid. It shouldn't have messed me up like this."
"You have every right to be a little… 'messed up.'" Holiday chuckled. "Change is difficult, but sometimes it's for the best." Rex nodded slightly, starting to understand. Change had been all he knew. When he woke up five years ago, change came quickly. First he was hunted by Providence, then he was saved and used. At first Six could have cared less about him, or at least that's how it seemed, but slowly, that changed too. The world was changing, and quickly at that. Part of it was because of Rex, but it is also just the way life is.
"I know, Doc. But I don't want things to change too much." Rex said and paused, unsure if he should continue. "I… I can't imagine my life without you and Six in it, you know? It's all I've ever known."
"We know." Six said, finally speaking. "And to be honest, kid, we can't image our lives without you." He didn't often speak for others, but he knew Holiday agreed on that. Her swift nod confirmed it.
"We're a family." Holiday said. "Maybe not by normal standards, but we've been through a lot together in the past five years. Things would have been a lot different without you."
Rex laughed. "Yeah! There'd be no taco nights!" Being serious was not something he was comfortable with, so he needed to break the slight tension with a joke. At that, Bobo came in and wrapped his hairy arms around both Rex and Holiday.
"So family, let's go out to eat. I'm sick of this place." He said in a gruff voice. "I say Bob's Biscuit Barn."
"Yeah!" Rex smiled.
"Fine," Six said, secretly enjoying the meal out—even if it was to a fast food place, "But we have to eat outside."
Rex pouted and Six sighed, pointing to the monkey. "No pets."
"Aw, now that's discrimination," Bobo laughed.
Holiday was right. Change is good. Some change, that is. And boy have things changed a lot. Providence still has their wannabe crime fighter league and I still have awesome metal powers, but I'm starting to feel like a real kid.
Now that EVOs aren't threatening the stability of the human race, Doc decided to take her research to try and find a cure for cancer. Seriously. I totally called that. See, since nanites are like cells and cancer is bad cells, she thinks she'll have a cure in a few years. She works at the local hospital now. She took her three and work experience to get a banging top level job.
Six is… Still Six. He works at Providence still as a ninja, or whatever they call him. He and I still fight bad guys, but only on weekends and during breaks. Which sucks, but Holiday runs a tight ship. Or, house.
We all left Providence HQ. Those metal walls just weren't doing it for us anymore. Holiday and Six got a house together in the same neighborhood as Noah (yeah, I'm sure that wasn't planned at all), and Bobo and I live there too. Speaking of which, there's totally something going on between Six and Holiday, but I've never seen them kiss or anything, so who knows? But, I think he'll pop the question soon.
Bobo annoys the neighbors by throwing poop in their yard, which I don't get because monkey poop is great fertilizer. Noah and I (and Bobo too) hang out a bunch and I'm doing really well in school, but I make sure to tell Holiday I know everything because of her.
"Rex, let's go! You're going to be late!"
The only bad thing is that I gotta live with her cooking!
Rex laughed and put down his journal. He slipped on his shoes and ran downstairs to the brightly colored kitchen. Six was there, reading a newspaper and having a cup of coffee. Eggs were set on the table and Rex sat right down.
"Thanks, Doc!"
"Don't thank me, just eat and hurry. You'll miss the bus, again." As she said that, the bus pulled up, stopped, and puffed away again. She glared over at Rex who smiled shyly.
"It's not like I don't have my own ride!" He said.
"You're not taking the jump jet." Six said. Although they were a family, they were anything but normal. There was a jump jet in the garage for Six to take to work when he had to go far away.
"Not what I was talking about." Rex jumped up into the air as his legs transformed into a hover-cycle.
"Rex, not in the house!" Holiday shouted as Rex zoomed out the door, knocking over two chairs and taking Six's newspaper with him.
"Sorry, can't hear you, gonna be late for school bye!" He called and was down the street in an instant.
Holiday and Six exchanged glances before Holiday started to laugh. She glanced around the kitchen, making sure that Bobo wasn't around before leaning down and kissing Six on the cheek. "Some things never change."
Thank you for reading! I recently finished the G-Rex series and loved it, and I have so many feelings for their little messed up family (and Holiday/Six, if that isn't obvious enough). This is the first Fan fic I've published in 4 years so I hope it's good! Call it my penance for not keeping up with NaNoWriMo haha. I might post a million more, or this could be it for a while. Who knows? But I'm glad I got it out. So I hope you enjoyed!