This is written for Dimmension Traveler who requested a one-shot future verse with Holix, Circex, and Beverly/Caesar. Enjoy.
Do Not Own Any Characters.
"Dad," came a small voice. Rex shifted in his bed.
"Daaadd," the voice was more insistent now with a hand shaking his shoulder.
"Whaaa…?" He snorted awake. He opened one eye to see his 6 year-old son looking intently at him. He painfully lifted his head to his alarm clock.
"Hey buddy, it's 4 in the morning." His voice full of sleep. "What do you want?"
His older sister joined him looking at their father. She was holding a breakfast tray.
The kids looked at each other and shouted, "Happy Anniversary!"
Circe pushed herself up and smiled at her children.
"Aww, you guys are so sweet."
The children were grinning ear to ear.
Rex who was not a morning person muttered, "Yeah, sweet, early but sweet." He also slid himself up to a sitting position, his eyes half closed.
His daughter who looked remarkably like a mini Circe placed the breakfast tray on the bed. Two bowls of cereal with two glasses of orange juice sat in the middle. Some of the milk and juice had sloshed out of their respective containers and were now mingling on the tray. Rex picked up the wet spoon and wiped it off on his shirt. He dug into the bowl hoping to get a few more hours of sleep if he finished his breakfast quickly. Circe also did likewise but her eyes were already bright and she talked with the kids. They were excitedly telling them how they had gotten up early so they could surprise them.
Rex finished and promptly went back to bed. Circe smiled and kissed each child on the head. She sent them downstairs with the tray and told them to give mommy and daddy a few more hours of sleep. She then settled into her cozy spot in the warm bed. All was quiet for a few minutes until Rex's brain suddenly kicked in.
CRAP! It was their anniversary! He had forgotten. It took every ounce of training he learned from Six to keep from bolting out of bed and running out of the house.
No, no, that would be obvious and Circe would know. He had to be subtle… and get help. With his eyes wide open with panic he ran through the list of people he knew. Noah? No, he was away on a business trip this week. Walter? No. Tuck and Cricket? No, Cricket would tell Circe . Caesar? No Beverly would find out and then Circe. Both scenarios would have him end up dead. Bobo? No, definitely no. His idea of a gift for girls was shoes. Then his mind turned to the one person he had always relied on ever since he was that amnesiac kid. He turned his head to Circe.
"Circe? Circe, honey?" He quietly whispered. The only response he got was her soft rhythmic breathing.
He slowly got out of bed, careful not to wake her, grabbed his cell phone off its charger, and tiptoed out of the room.
Once outside the bedroom, he frantically looked for his number.
0o0
His cell phone rang. His years of training forced him to immediately wake up. He looked at the time and inwardly cursed. He looked at his cell and groaned. His head fell against the pillows.
"Who is it?" Rebecca mumbled without opening her eyes.
"Who else would call 4:30 in the morning?" Six covered his eyes with his arm.
"Rex?"
"Rex."
"Well, see what he wants." Rebecca urged. "You know he's just going to keep calling."
Six debated whether he wanted to just pull the battery out of his cell but then he'll call the land line and wake the kids. So despite his misgivings he answered the phone.
"What?" He didn't bother with the pleasantries.
"Six, thank God you answered. I'm in so much trouble." For a second Six tensed. What kind of trouble could he be in? He wasn't assigned any dangerous missions of late and….
"I forgot our anniversary!" Rex's voice had a tinge of panic.
Oh that, Six relaxed. "Well, you're screwed." And he hung up.
The phone immediately rang again.
"Rex, forgot their anniversary again?" Rebecca opened one eye.
"Yeah," Six answered the phone. "Rex, I can't…."
"Please, oh please, please, pleeeeeease. You have to help me." Rex sounded more like the teenager of yore than the adult he was suppose to be.
"Rex, get a hold of yourself." Six pinched the bridge of his nose.
"If you don't help me, I'll be crashing at your place again. Remember?" Rex whined.
Six did remember. It was not pretty. In the end Rebecca had to smooth things over with Circe. Having a grown man sitting in his bathrobe in their living room for weeks was not an option.
"Fine, what do you need me to do?" Six gave up. He listened to Rex as he outlined his plan.
"Wouldn't just flowers and chocolates be easier?" He sighed.
"No, this has to be big! Thanks, Six. I owe you one." And then Rex hung up before Six can say anything else.
Six hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. Rex will be the death of him.
"You're such an enabler." Rebecca said amused.
"Hmmph," was his only response as he got up to make his way to the bathroom.
"Eh- hem." Rebecca cleared her throat. Oh yeah. Six went back to the bed. He bent over and kissed her.
"That's better." She said before rolling over to go back to sleep.
Six continued to the bathroom.
0o0
"Happy anniversary." Rex gave Circe a peck. " We have big plans tonight."
"Really?" Circe asked surprised. "You didn't say anything all week, so I thought…"
"You thought I forgot? I'd never forget about my hermosa chica*." Rex smiled.
Circe smiled and kissed him.
"Ewww, mom. Not while we're eating." Complained her daughter.
Circe pulled away from her husband. "Come on eat up. We don't want to be late for work. And you kids have to catch the school bus."
Rex smiled. Everything was going according to plan.
0o0
Caesar and Beverly's doorbell rang. Beverly answered the door expecting Rex and Circe.
"Six! What happened to you?" Beverly looked at Six in surprise. Six was dusty, dirty and… was that leaves stuck to his rumpled suit?
"Don't ask. Give this to Rex." He said gruffly as he handed her an envelope.
"Oh, okay. Would you like to come in?" She asked politely.
"No. I'm going home." He turned and stalked off.
Beverly watched as he walked back to his car and drove off. That was weird.
A few minutes later Rex and Circe drove by to drop the kids off at their house.
Beverly handed the envelope from Six to Rex whose eyes lit up.
"Have fun." Beverly waved. "Don't worry Caesar and I will take good care of the little rugrats." She fondly glanced over at Caesar who looked decidedly uncomfortable as the two kids tried to climb him. "It'll be good practice for him." She whispered conspiratorially to Circe. Circe's eyes widened and then grinned.
"Come on! Let's go or we'll be late!" Rex formed his rex ride.
Circe looked at him. "I thought we were driving?"
"Naaa, this'll be more fun. Trust me."
An hour later, Circe was looking open mouth at the stage in front of her.
"How did you get tickets? They've been sold out for weeks." Rex and Circe were at a Trendbenders' concert. They were on their second farewell tour.
"I've got connections." Rex said. "Happy anniversary."
"Happy anniversary." Circe wrapped her arms around her husband and kissed him.
0o0
Six got home and plopped onto the couch. Really men his age should not be crawling through vents and falling out of trees.
"What happened to you?" Rebecca sounded too much like Beverly or was it the other way around? She sat on the arm rest.
Six sighed. " I got Rex tickets to the Trendbenders' concert tonight."
"Really? But they were sold out!"
"Yes, I know."
"Then how?"
Six thought back to this morning.
"I need to talk to JoJo." Six told the security detail.
"She's busy." The very big man said.
"Tell her that an old friend needs to talk to her."
"I said she's busy."
Six briefly thought of taking out his katanas and cutting the brute in half but then thought the better of it.
He left the hotel and went to the back. From all the security on the top floor he figured that's where the Trendbenders must be staying. He glanced around. Yes, the ever ubiquitous air vents. It was just his size too. He was about to kick it in when the security guard walked by. Six quickly scrambled up the tree next to the vent. Really the tree was just a sapling barely able to support his weight but its leafy fronds hid him from view. The security guard passed by and rounded the corner. That's when the branch Six was standing on decided to snap. He fell to the ground flat on his back. Ten years ago he would have landed on his feet. He must be getting old. He rolled over and before he could change his mind yanked the grate off the vent before crawling through. When he reached the Trendbenders' room they were more than happy to give him tickets to the concert.
"Why didn't you just have security call me?" JoJo asked looking at the dusty, leaf-encrusted agent.
Six merely growled and left.
"Uh, you know Six. I didn't catch any of that." Rebecca nudged him.
"Forget it. You don't want to know." Six informed her.
"Well, I know what'll make you feel better." Her voice had shifted subtly.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Rebecca got up from the couch with hips swaying she walked over to the stairs. She looked at him over her shoulder with a sly smirk before going up the stairs.
"The kids are staying at their friends tonight," her voice floated down to him.
Six contemplated what to do next. His body ached, he was sure there was a knot growing on the back of his head, he bruised his knees….
"Oh, what the heck!" He sprung off the couch and dashed up the stairs.
Might as well salvage some part of his day… and maybe most of the night.
Hermosa chica= beautiful girl