The alarms were ringing so loudly that Rex figured he'd have the blaring sound stuck in his head for the rest of his life. As he raced down the hallway of the large ship, his heart started pounding in excitement and blood rushed to his face making him feel warm all over. He loved this feeling. It had been a while since he'd felt so alive! The adrenaline pumping through his veins made him want to shout or punch something. Or punch something while shouting. Either way, if he could bottle up this feeling and keep it forever, he'd do it as quickly as his heart was beating.
This feeling was almost foreign to him now, replicated only slightly by working out at the Providence gym. As a high school sophomore now living a relatively normal life, and with no monsters to cure on a daily basis, his day-to-day was pretty, well… Normal. How boring.
"When are we landing, Six?" Rex shouted over the persistent alarms as he slid into the hatch and ducked down next to his mentor, guardian, and sick ninja guy.
Six didn't acknowledge him in any obvious way, instead pressing the device on his ear and pausing. Rex who, after six years of knowing this man, had finally learned to exert a little patience in waiting for a reply, but he still stared wide-eyed at the man, as if his urgent brown eyes would drag an answer out any faster.
"We're dropping in 5… 4…" Six began. Rex only had time to roll his eyes and think 'Gee, thanks for the warning' before the hatch burst open and the two were suddenly weightless against only the dark night sky, with the ground fast approaching.
"This." Rex thought as his lower body morphed into a hovercraft and Six fired up his jetpack. "This is how I want to live."
"This is absolutely ridiculous! Six, are you serious?"
Holiday was fuming. Her face was red with anger and her eyes seemed permanently narrowed in a glare meant only for the tall, green suited man in front of her. Her voice came out in a whisper, soft and raspy, but it had all the intended fury of a loud scream. Although his eyes couldn't be seen through his glasses and his lips remained in a thin, expressionless line, Six was scared. With how angry Holiday looked, he'd be stupid not to be scared.
The minute Holiday laid eyes on Rex as the two came through the automatic doors of the Providence hospital bay, she could have ripped his lungs out. Rex had shot her a weak smile as he was helped along by Six. He was limping, an arm slung around his mentor and the other grasping his lower left side.
Holiday already wasn't thrilled to be called in by Providence at three in the morning. Well, she wasn't the one to be called in. Rather, Rex and Six were asked to come help with yet another robot outbreak in downtown St. Louis and, God-forbid something happen, she wasn't going to be left back at home fearing for Rex and Six. She wasn't at all happy about it, but she felt she was the only one who could adequately take care of the two, especially if Rex's nanites began to act up.
After an extremely brief check up on Six to make sure he was alright, Holiday got to work wrapping up Rex's ankle, putting a bandage over his side, and settling down his restless cells who had been pushed to their limits for the first time in a while. Once everything that could be done for him was finished at the hospital bay, the three were taken back to their home in suburbia.
Holiday had just tucked a sleeping Rex into bed as the sun began to rise through the beige curtains on his window, illuminating his typically teenage boy room. Once she was sure Rex was sleeping, she had turned to Six and unleashed everything she felt about this mission.
"If you want to keep working for them, fine." She said, her voice slowly rising as she turned on her heels and closed the door to Rex's room. "But neither myself nor Rex work for Providence anymore. Rex isn't your weapon you can just take for a spin whenever you want. He's a kid. A kid who can't go to school today, and probably for the rest of the week because he pushed himself to the absolute edge for a company that only cared about how much destruction he could do!"
By now Holiday had made her way to the kitchen where she angrily grabbed a mug and started blindly mashing buttons on the Keurig machine, hoping it would spit out at least some coffee. Six had followed her silently, not showing any emotion, and certainly not interrupting her.
After she had gotten a cup of coffee—which the machine had only half filled, she thumped her mug on the kitchen island and returned her glare to Six. "I'm serious, Six. This. Is. It. No more joyrides, no more late night saving the world. He needs to focus on school and try to have a normal life." Towards the end of her rant, her eyes seemed to soften, as though she was pleading with Six. In a way, she was.
Six paused for a moment, trying to be sure Holiday had said everything she needed to. He knew that things had changed. While Six continued to work at Providence, all Holiday wanted was for Rex to have some security. They couldn't undo the fact that his parents were gone and his brother was flighty at best. What they could do was be the best guardians they could possibly be. And, thinking about it, perhaps being a good guardian doesn't entail letting your sixteen-year-old freebase off a military plane 30,000 feet in the air.
On the other hand, though, the world still needed Rex. Sure, the EVO issue had taken care of itself, but Rex was still a special kid who could help Providence in ways others couldn't. He could shut down robots and talk to machines. With technology advancing so quickly, it was often falling into the wrong hands. Not always bad, evil hands, but hands that had no idea what they were doing. With Rex jobs were simple. But, Holiday was right. Even years later, Six had a tendency to view Rex as a sort of weapon—a tool that could be used when needed. After years of being used at Providence, Rex deserved to have a normal teenage life. He deserved to go to school and prom, get a job, and learn to drive a vehicle that wasn't made out of the lower half of his own body. Did he need a license for that anyway?
"Rebecca," Six started slowly as Holiday cocked an eyebrow, as though daring him to rebuke her. "I get it. Rex does deserve a normal life. But he's not a normal kid. You're right, we all look at him as though he is a tool that can be used and that's wrong. But he does possess tools that the world needs." Holiday frowned at that, but kept her lips pursed in silence. Six was done speaking, as the usually stoic and quiet man felt he had made all the argument he needed to get his point across. After holding her gaze for another moment, Holiday let her shoulders relax forward and she sighed.
"I know he's not a normal kid." She said, almost in a mumble. It was as though all the anger had come flooding out of her. "But really, Six, I don't want him being called into Providence all the time. He doesn't work there. I know that bad things happen in the world, and they may need him someday. But every single time something happens? They can handle it themselves."
Six sighed. He knew Holiday was right, though he didn't want to admit it. For a moment he searched the depths of his mind to figure out why, exactly, he was so upset at the idea of not having Rex come along on every mission. After all, the kid was annoying, loud, and often got himself into more trouble than the whole thing was even worth. Today was a classic case and point.
However, Six realized after a moment of soul searching, that this was exactly what he would miss. When he met Rex years ago, he had initially wanted to find his family and be done. Then, he wanted to use him as a tool to cure the human race. But now that he had watched Rex grow up over the past few years—and honestly, now that he had helped raise him—he almost saw these missions as a sort of bonding experience. As messed up as that sounds, Six felt most connected to Rex when they were escaping death by mere seconds and falling from planes in the sky. Now he'd have to find another way to bond with the obnoxious teenager. He'd have to teach him how to drive or play ball. Or worse, talk about girls.
But Holiday was as fierce as a mother lion. If there was no reason for Rex to be in danger, she certainly wasn't going to allow him to walk into the fire. And, Six figured, she was completely right. "Okay." Six finally said after a moment. "I will only take him if Providence really can't handle things on their own."
Holiday wasn't completely pleased with the idea of Providence using him at all, but did understand that Rex would be needed in some capacity someday. She wanted to protect him. She wanted to protect Six, but knew that man would never and could never be kept away from the danger Providence promised. He enjoyed it too much. But, she held firm that even if Rex would never be considered normal, he deserved a routine that mirrored that of a regular kid. "Alright," she said after a pause of her own.
Holiday took another sip of her coffee and sat down on the barstool next to the island. She sat down heavily and sighed. She was exhausted, both from arguing and from being woken up so early in the morning. Six thought for a moment about leaving her, but he pulled up the other stool and sat down.
"You're doing a great job." He said. Holiday glanced at him, a little surprised by the warm words he had spoken.
"Thank you." She replied and let out another heavy sigh. "I just want to have some sense of normalcy. Honestly, Six, I want to feel like a family."
"We are." He affirmed, but said nothing more.
Holiday smiled at that and placed a hand on his knee. "Good. I know there's been a lot of changes, but I think things are finally starting to come together."
But for Rex who had come downstairs to grab a glass of water, but stayed hidden on the staircase to listen to the argument, this change was about to break down everything that made him Generator Rex.
A sort of sequel to my other fic, Changes from a few years ago. Not sure how many chapters there will be, of if this will end up a oneshot deal. I'm trying to procrastinate studying for finals. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!
Oh, also I'm a huge fan of Holix, but I will try to keep romance subtle!