The only author's notes you'll get I promise:

1) I apologize for any formatting issues on this site. I've not used it since I was about twelve so I'm sure there are going to be format problems since I'm more accustomed to ArchiveofOurOwn.

2) This is set directly after Genrex canon but disregards the fact that Six never regained his memories. The same goes for Ben 10. This fic is set after the series, but with no Ben Prime marriage. I love Kai tho lol don't get me wrong. His marriage with Kai exists as a possible future. Follows Ben 10,000 timeline too where Ben is said to lose his childlike glee at the age of 20 until he meets his younger self again. The Wiki states that the events that the details as to why this change happened are "unclear" but whatever it was, it sure made him tear Vilgax's squiddy ass a new one.

3) In the show, nanites could repair Rex's injuries. This fic keeps a similar idea. For example, if his body ever were to enter a shut down period, like a restarting computer, the nanites in his body would work to keep him alive so he's not deathly malnourished. Most of his body's faculties would be on 'pause' so to speak, but he could still grow hair, nails, etc.

"I'll find a way to fix this, buddy."

Rex's tone carried a note of mourning although his friend was not dead. Bobo stared back at him uncomprehendingly, no sign of that human spark in his eyes. The chimpanzee gave an animalistic shriek, shaking the bars of his cage, face devoid of any recognition. Though his friend was not dead, he was no longer there. Rex had never thought to consider the EVOs who were not human to begin with. He never anticipated that administering a cure for the mutations nanites created would strip them of what seemed very much like humanity.

Visiting Bobo was the same every time Rex stopped by. The chimp was being kept in a spacious cage that once served as a Providence holding cell for EVOs. But there were none anymore. All that was left were empty cages and vacant enclosures.

Well, almost empty.

He didn't know what compelled him to check in every day. There was never change. Nothing. The boy left disappointed every time.

"I'm sorry." Rex hung his head, receiving only unintelligible noises in response. Slowly, he turned on a heel toward the door.

There was going to be a meeting at Providence. Though he was not officially an agent, it was mandatory that he attended. It was likely going to be about something boring, because he knew that there were issues about finance or something like that. Initially, Consortium funded Providence, then collectively the leading superpowers of the world. But now that Providence was no longer a necessary resistance against EVOs, governments were pulling back their funding. Blah blah blah. Money and Bureaucratic crap. It was all Greek to him. There were more important things to worry about. Did nobody remember Van Kleiss? He'd seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth. How could anybody worry about money when that guy was still out there? Money seemed like the least of their worries.

He gnashed his teeth together and kicked the ground, scuffing up the white floor. The cure was supposed to have solved everything. One big finish. Why didn't it seem that way at times?

The meeting was in a few minutes. Rex rocked on his heels, debating whether or not he should simply bail. After all, did they really need him to be there? It wasn't like he was a major leader or decision maker within Providence. He didn't really have anything to bring to the table in terms of the direction this organization was heading toward.

Showing up to catch the tail end of the meeting would be fine. Rex took off into a sprint down the hall. He didn't know where he was running to, he just wanted to blow off steam. When he was flying, everything seemed to melt away.

"Woah, where's the fire kid?" chuckled an agent who watched him speed by toward one of the building's exits, "Don't forget that there's a meeting in 10!"

"I know!" Rex shouted over his shoulder, "You won't even have time to miss me!"

He threw himself out of the doors, sliding his goggles down his head and over his eyes. Boogie Pack materialized at his back, and Rex left Providence behind him, sailing through the air.

Curing the world of EVOs didn't only have downsides. For one, it was nice to have more free time on his hands. He could sail the skies and cruise around freely without having to worry about fighting a hulking monster. Occasionally, there would be some freak trying to bully citizens but it was never as difficult as fighting EVOs had been for him. So, as far as positives went, looking heroic while not having to break his face on the pavement as often was pretty good.

Wind tousled his hair, shook through his clothing, and chilled him cooler under the hot summer sun. But flying didn't take away what worries plagued his mind. Maybe nothing would help that.

Tearing into him the most was his own guilty conscious. It prodded him, mockingly jabbing,'Why do you really want to find, Van Kleiss?' Yeah, the danger he posed was concerning. It would be better for the entire populace if the guy were locked up somewhere good and tight. Selfishly however, Rex knew that if he had somehow escaped the cure, then he still had active nanites…

Okay, flying wasn't helping this once. Solitude only left him alone with his thoughts.

Descending from the clouds, Rex landed, dropping down in what looked like a little park, complete with benches and a fountain. He never really was a fan of those pissing or crying angel ones. Last thing he wanted to think about while looking at water was someone's fluids. Gross.

His hand twitched with temptation. If he called Noah, they could hang out, and that could get his mind off of things. It would also mean ditching the Providence meeting completely. There was no doubt in his mind that blowing them off would make Knight go ballistic. He pursued his lips wondering if that was really worth it.

"Thinking hard or hardly thinking?" came an accented voice that sent unpleasant shivers up Rex's spine. He didn't have good experiences with British accents, counting the number of times he fought people who spoke in them.

Whipping around on alert, he saw a man sitting on a bench, though Rex swore he hadn't been there when he landed. The stranger wore a white lab coat, his own set of goggles hanging from his neck.

"You seem deeply troubled by something." The man continued, "Don't agonize over it for too long, or you'll wind up mad. Take it from a man who knows, everything passes at its own pace. That applies to problems too. All will be well in due time, Rex."

"Uh…" Rex squinted at him suspiciously. This was setting off so many red flags, "You know who I am?"

"I don't think there's anyone on this Earth who doesn't."

Oh right.

"Okay... That's true." He conceded reluctantly, "But why are you telling me this?"

"Just a few friendly words from a traveler." The man waved off cheerfully. Despite the carefree nature of his tone, Rex was still uneasy for a reason he couldn't place. It was never as simple as that for him.

"There is something else that you need to keep in mind." The stranger continued, "It is imperative that you not forget. It relates in part to your tenancy to let your anxiety get the better of you. Whatever may come, you must keep a handle on your emotions, especially your temper. Do not act impulsively. Now, do hurry off. You're already late for your meeting."

Rex stiffened.

Before he could even begin to interrogate the stranger- No, as soon as he blinked , the man had already vanished from the bench.

Not normal! That had not been normal, and Rex sure as hell wasn't crazy. The stranger had been right there, and he'd disappeared before his very eyes.

However, like the stranger had warned, he was running tardy. Assembling his Boogie Pack for the second time that day, he took off from the ground and back to Providence Headquarters. He had planned on arriving fashionably late to begin with anyway.

As predicted, White Knight wasn't in a stellar mood when Rex finally showed his face an hour into their discussion. The man fixed him with a narrow eyed look through the monitor he hid behind, barking, "You might as well not have shown up at all!"

"Well it's good that you're here now." Doctor Holiday leveled her own disapproving frown at him, "This part has to do with you."

"Wait Doc. There's something I have to tell you-" But before he could finish detailing his trip to the park, Holiday cut him off.

"Sit down, Rex. Please, this is serious."

Rex chanced a good guess that his encounter with a magic, vanishing British man wasn't going to be digested as the same kind of 'seriousness' Holiday was asking for. So he rolled his eyes and sat next to Six, making a mental note to bring it up later.

"So…" Rex trailed off, "I hear we're running out of money. Just hear me out: Providence Car wash."

"Providence is being disbanded." Knight informed him, speaking in the bitter tone of fact, "We are no longer deemed necessary."

All the joking air about Rex dissipated.

Providence was his home. It was all he had known for whatever he could remember of his life. He shot a distressed glance at Six, seeking some form reassurance. He wanted to know that… Well, he wasn't sure what he wanted to know yet. His mind was reeling from the information, but he looked to his mentor for help.

Six touched his shoulder, as if he could sort out what thoughts were going through Rex's mind.

"Don't worry." He told him, easing part of Rex's fears, "I'm not going anywhere."

"But where am I going to go?" Rex asked them, looking around the room at all of them, "I've lived here for as long as I can remember. I don't know anywhere or anything else. Plus, all my stuff's here!"

Briefly, he considered the Salazar Family ranch, wondering if that was even an option. At least he knew he wouldn't be homeless, regardless of what was going to happen.

"Under ordinary circumstances, Caesar would have been given guardianship over you until you reach legal adulthood wherever it is you hold citizenship." Knight answered, and it was then that Rex realized his brother was not present in the room.

"Ordinary circumstances?" Rex snorted, "There's nothing ordinary about this, Knight."

"You can whine about your lack of ordinary days on your own time." The man snipped at him, "Let me finish. Salazar should have been granted custody over you, and he would have been given it too, but the United Nations are demanding he stand trial on global terrorism charges."

"What?!" Rex's voice rose with horror, as did he from his seat, "They can't do that!"

He jerked his head to look at Six, pleadingly.

"Six, they can't do that."

"They already have. He's been taken to a detention center in The Netherlands where he's awaiting trial." Six informed him, then added more softly, "I'm sorry, Rex."

"So what?" Rex jerked his shoulder away from Six, slamming a fist onto the table. It rattled with the force of his hand, "We are not going to just sit here while they send my brother to his execution. He's the only family I have left!"

"We don't know for sure if that's going to be the final verdict, Rex." Holiday gently said, "He's just going to stand trial for now."

"There were other scientists involved in the project." Rex protested, "Why aren't any of them being blamed. Why only Caesar?"

"Because there's nobody left to hold accountable. The public wants someone to answer for one of the worst disasters in human history." Knight said flatly, "And he was the one who hit the button that started the whole mess."

"They. Can't. Do that!" Rex repeated with venom, "Do they think we didn't suffer any losses because of what happened? We lost our parents. I lost my memories. The Nanite Event sucked for everybody!"

"We know that, Rex." Holiday agreed, "And hopefully the tribunal will take that into consideration too."

"That still doesn't answer my question. Where... am I going to go?"

"That all depends." Holiday touched his wrist, guiding him to sit down once more, "Ideally, you would go with one of us. But you've been called to attend Caesar's hearing since they count you as one of his experiments."

"I'm a person, not an experiment!"

"Nobody here is saying otherwise. I promise you, Rex." She firmly said, "If anybody tries to suggest differently, they'll have to answer to me. All they want is proof that you're not dangerous and I could tell them that much on my own. They want to hear from you though."

"For what? I thought this was my brother's trial, not mine."

"If you're proved harmless that's one less thing they'll hold against your brother." Knight said bluntly, not beating around the bush at all, "But if they decide that you're not, they may label you a weapon of mass destruction."

And they would take Rex away. He assumed that was what they would do to him. That was why Holiday couldn't give him a straight answer as to where he was going to go. He lost his ability to speak then. Caesar's life was riding on his shoulders, and he was so terrified that he could not even speak. How was he going to put up a defense proving that he was as human as the next guy?

"You're allowed to bring along one person to accompany you." Six said, when Rex had gone silent for those few moments.

His eyes automatically flashed to Six.

"Can… Will you come with me?"

Six inclined his head in a nod, "Of course."

It wasn't that he wanted to trade and have Noah's life instead of his own, but going to the Nixon house always had a way of making Rex feel… welcome. Mr. and Mrs. Nixon always treated him like their son's friend and accepted him as if he were no different than them. He had just finished having dinner with the other boy and his parents. Now, he and Noah they were seated in front of the television playing video games.

"That's just… messed up." Noah stated when Rex finished telling him about the situation with his brother, "Your brother wasn't the only one involved in the nanite project."

"He caused the explosion though…" Rex sullenly acknowledged.

"But how do they know that?"

Noah's words gave him pause. On screen, the character he played as was completely annihilated. The other boy was right, the only people who could have sold him out were the people who had been there at the time and survived. Gabriel Rylander, Black Knight, and-

"Van Kleiss..." Rex snarled, gripping the controller tight enough for it to strain under the pressure.

"You really think it was him?"

"He has to be involved somehow. He's the one who told me Caesar was responsible for the accident in the first place. Now he's trying to get my brother killed!"

"Yeah but he's off the grid, Rex. If he really showed his face, he'd probably be imprisoned too for all the stuff he's pulled."

"Am I the only one who's concerned that the guy is still out there?"

"No, you're not." Noah slowly said, "But you don't know that he was the one who ratted Caesar out. It could have been any of the others involved in the project."

Rylander wouldn't. He was a close family friend, so Rex ruled him out. He didn't think Meechum would turn Caesar in either, they were friends despite their

disagreements. Rex couldn't see either of them trying to get Caesar executed. That left the ever silent Van Kleiss and Black Knight.

He hadn't truly been thinking about Black Knight in terms of a threat level, not as much as he should have been. She had gotten away, along with the rest of Consortium. If it wasn't Van Kleiss it was probably her...

"When's the trial?" Noah asked him, defeating him again on screen.

"Next week. Monday."

"Yikes."

"I don't want to go." Rex agreed, setting his controller down. There was dread sitting heavy on his chest, like a heavy chunk of concrete had been placed on top of him. And he was well acquainted with that feeling.

"Well," Noah flashed him a sympathetic look, "If you need someone to vouch for how human you are, I got your back. I mean, if you really were just a machine then you wouldn't suck so badly at video games."

He shoved a pillow into Noah's face, and the other boy responded by kicking him in the hip though it hardly hurt.

"Any change with Bobo?" Noah suddenly asked him, switching topics as he started a new game. Rex's shoulders slumped and he shook his head, causing the blonde to frown.

"Is the reason you're so obsessed with Van Kleiss lately…" Noah carefully tried to phrase his words, "Does it have to do with Bobo?"

Rex stilled. Obsessed? Thanks Noah. After he had just finished telling him that he wasn't alone in his concerns.

"Rex, you're not thinking about asking him for help are you? Because I can tell you now," His friend warily advised, "that is not going to end well. Whatever you're thinking of doing: Don't."

"Yes, mom." Rex drawled, "But no, I wasn't thinking about crawling to Van Kleiss. Who do you think I am, Noah?"

He was actually being partially truthful. He hadn't been thinking about asking him for help exactly. But if they could maybe force it out of him, perhaps beat him into complying, then that wouldn't have been so bad. They could extract what nanites he may have still had on him, then maybe reinfect Bobo.

"I know that you miss Bobo." The blonde acknowledged, "You've been friends even longer than we have and I get that. But you always say it yourself, you can't trust Van Kleiss."

"I know that." Rex said defensively, lowering his controller, "I know..."

But that didn't make the idea less tempting.

In all the chaos which was his personal life, he completely forgot about the stranger in the park.