His breath was coming out in ragged gasps. Lifeless hunks of bloody Evo surrounded him even as he finally fell to the ground. Blood poured from his wounds, pooling around him. Slowly, he lost his grip on the katana, and it slid into the dust. Six couldn't think of anything but the pain. Now that there was no Evo to distract him and to keep his adrenaline pumping, he knew he was dying; bleeding out on the ground like an animal. He tried to stand up, but almost instantly fell to the ground. It almost hurt too much to just go on breathing, movement wasn't an option. There were huge gashes on his arms and legs where the sharp clawed Evo had scraped him, and they were bleeding profusely. But by far the worst wound was the hole in his side where the Evo had actually eaten the muscle, taking a piece of Six with him. Six stared up at the sky, blinking back tears that he knew he could not and would not let fall. It just hurt too much.

…

Slowly, images started appearing before him, his own mind trying to distract him from the pain of his injuries. The first was from when he was very young, it was his father laughing as a young Six tried to demonstrate some martial arts move he had seen in a movie. He fell to the ground with a thud, and his dad just ruffled his hair and told him that he still needed a lot of practice and showing him the correct way. Just one perfect moment with his dad before both he and his mother were killed in a plane crash.

The next memory was about three years later. He had run away from his foster home and was living on the streets. He hadn't been on his own but for a couple of days when this particular incident happened. He was walking down an apparently empty ally when three burly gangbangers stepped from behind a dumpster. Six tried to fight them, and the twelve year old even managed to knock out one, but they were too big, and he was just too small. The largest of them had just slammed him into the rough wall, and stars flashed in front of his eyes as his head hit solid brick. Then a shadow appeared at the end of the ally and a soft voice spoke up. "So, you like to beat up children do you?" Then the man practically flew at his attackers and within moments they were completely disabled. The man, dusting his hands off turned to Six with a small smile. And that is when Six got his first clear look at Number One.

…

Six forced his mind away from the memories, and tried to focus on the matter at hand. He knew P rovidence was in the area, but there were other Evos to fight and he didn't know how long it would take them to get to him. Carefully, and almost yelling from the pain, he pulled what was left of his left sleeve off, and threw it over the highest rock he could reach. It wasn't perhaps the best signal, but it was all he could manage before slipping into blessed unconsciousness and back into the memories.

…

This time, he was already working for Providence there was a loudmouthed little smartass crouching beside him. Six was honestly torn between saving the kid, or using him as Evo bait. It was almost decided in favor of the 'bait' idea when the little brat had to start talking about how scared he was, and discovering a case of amnesia that he probably should have noticed a bit earlier. Of course, that meant that Six had to actually take care of the runt- just what he needed in this situation. Then that same useless little bag of sand that he thought he would have to drag around turned out to be the cure. For the first time in a long time, he felt the stirrings of hope…but also the very first suspicion of what would become a lifelong conviction. The universe likes to fuck with people.

His mind fast forward through the next few years with a blur. Hundreds of battles fought, and a decade later, that smart-mouthed little kid had turned into a smartass adult. And somewhere along that long line, Six realized that he would lay his life down for Rex's, and even more shocking to the man, Rex felt the same. The next clear memory was more vivid than any other he had had so far. What appeared before him now had happened only a few weeks ago. They were sitting on Six's bed; Six was finishing the last of his paperwork when Rex spoke up. "Six, what am I going to do if you die?"

Six looked up at the other man, startled. "What brought this on?" he asked cautiously.

Rex turned to look at him, and shrugged. "I don't know. I was just thinking about it. We are in deadly situations all the time. What if something happens to you? What am I supposed to do without you here to keep me together?" Rex looked away as he finished, still embarrassed to say things like that out loud.

"I am not going to die Rex." Six rubbed his fingers through the soft hair on Rex's head.

"But.." Rex bit his lip, and sat up, speaking low almost as if he didn't really want Six to hear him. "Even if you don't get killed by an Evo, you are so much…older than I am." Rex's words got quicker and quicker as he as he tried to just get it all out through his growing embarrassment. "Even with just that, you could die long before I do."

Six sighed, and leaned close to Rex, resting his forehead on the younger man's. "I will not die. I will wait here for you." With those words spoken, the memory faded away into nothing as the pain reasserted itself and he awoke.

…

"His eyes are open!" The first thing Six heard as he came back to himself was Rex's panicked yelling. The younger man was leaning over him, crying. "Six," he moaned "you can't die? Remember? You promised you would wait for me." Six barely noticed that he was no longer on the hard ground, but on a cot in one of the transport ships as they rushed him to Providence.

Even the small smile that touched Six's lips hurt, but Six's arms and legs were already numb, and his mind was twisting and spinning from all of the lost blood. He tried to speak to Rex, but with the bustling of the medics around him, and the horrible dryness of his mouth and throat, Rex could not hear him. The crying man leaned in close to his love, as Six tried again. "I feel alive when you're beside me." Then, with effort, he brought his head up the quarter inch and kissed Rex one last time. The next time Agent Six closed his eyes, they did not open.