I just can't leave this thing alone! ^_^ As fics go, this one is up there! I'm just bummed that I'm not getting more reviews... Ah well! The ones I'm getting are enough to spur me on! We're gonna go a little more into everyone's characters and set the stage some more. In this chapter, Noah and Andrew get more acquainted while Monica introduces the others to the wonderful world of caffeine! Plus there's a slight sprinkle of Holix Anyway, here we go!

"R-Rex..." Noah mumbled in his sleep. A pained look crossed his face and he clenched his fists. "Run...Go..." He moaned and turned over. "Dad...Dad...where are you?"

Andrew gazed softly at Noah as he slept. He reached out a soothing hand and rested it on the kid's blonde head. "It's okay, Noah..." He whispered. "Just a dream." The sleeping boy's features began to relax. As he gently brushed back Noah's golden hair, Andrew thought back to that fateful day about a week ago, when he had taken Gabriel Rylander into the arms of his Creator. 'Noah looks a lot like him...' He mused to himself as he stood and quietly left the teen's bedside.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Andrew frowned and pulled his golden pocket watch out of his pocket. He looked at it through narrowed eyes, trying to discern what it was saying without turning on a light and rousing Noah. 'Hmmm...still have a few days...Thank God... From what Tess told me, this process might take awhile.' Glancing at the clock in the hallway, the Angel of Death walked downstairs to start making some breakfast.

…...

"Rise and shine!" Gloria said brightly, shaking Rex's shoulder. "Come on, now! It's morning! Time to get up!"

"Mmph..." Rex grumbled and turned over, pulling his blanket over his head.

"Come on, Rex! Wakey, wakey!" She tried to pull the blanket's back from Rex's iron grip.

"Hn...Ten more minutes..." Rex mumbled.

"Six wants you downstairs for briefing, Rex!" Gloria urged, shaking his shoulder again. That was clearly the wrong choice of words. Rex let out a loud groan and pulled the covers even further over his head. "You only have half an hour!"

"Go away..."

'Maybe I should try a new tactic...' "Okay. I'll just go and eat Monica's pizza all by myself."

"Pizza?" Rex sat bolt upright, accidentally slamming his head on the headboard. "Ow..." He moaned, rubbing his head.

"Good! You're awake! Get Bobo up and let's go! Hup-hup!" She skipped out of the room.

'It's gotta be against the law to be so peppy this early...' Rex thought to himself, gaping at Gloria's retreating figure. 'Whatever...' He turned toward Bobo. "Hey, Bobo! Wake up!"

"Grrr..."

"Six is making out with Holiday down the hall!"

In about five seconds, Bobo had jumped out of bed, thrown on clean clothes, and was off running down the hall as if he was being chased by Evo hounds!

…...

Six poked at the brown crust of the item on the plate in front of him cautiously. "What exactly is this, Monica?"

"Just a little something I whipped up!" Monica replied, smiling brightly. "I heard that Rex liked pizza and decided to make him a little treat!"

Tess was staring at the plate. "A treat or a punishment?"

"What kind of pizza is this?" Holiday asked, trying to figure out what was on it. 'Is pizza supposed to be brown all over?'

"Well, I put ground coffee into the crust. The sauce is a blend of whipped cream, caramel, and mocha latte. I sprinkled flakes of java chocolate on top for the cheese. Then I topped it with coffee beans!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "I've been wanting to make a mocha pizza ever since meeting that lovely family with the pizza parlor! Doesn't it look delicious?"

"I can't allow Rex to eat this." Six said immediately.

Monica's face fell. "Why not?" 'I hope he's not allergic to coffee...'

"He's hard enough to deal with as he is. After eating this, I may be forced to tranquilize him."

Holiday rolled her eyes. "You worry too much, Six." Secretly, she agreed but she didn't want to hurt Monica's feelings. She had clearly worked hard on this...mocha pizza... She walked off to get plates. As she did, she turned to Tess. "I take it that Monica likes coffee."

Tess let out a short laugh. "This is nothing. You should have seen what she wanted to eat when we threw her a party!"

"What did you have?"

"Coffee cake, coffee cookies, coffee ice cream, chocolate covered coffee beans, and sprinkled lattes."

"Yikes..." Holiday made a mental note to always send someone else along if Monica ever took Rex to eat anywhere.

"Rex is on his way!" Gloria chirped as she walked into the room. She stopped short as she approached the table. "I thought we were having pizza..."

At that moment, Bobo came running into the room. He had an eager look on his face. As he entered, however, his face fell and he shook his head. "Fell for it again...I'm gonna kill him..."

"Fell for what again?" Gloria tilted her head.

Bobo glanced warily at Six. "Nothing..." He sat down at the table. "What's for breakfast?"

"Mocha pizza!" Monica replied.

"Sweet!" Bobo cut himself a slice and immediately started eating. "Hey Chief!" He called over his shoulder as Rex walked in. "We got coffee-chocolate pizza! Dig in!"

"Awesome!" Rex started devouring a large slice of the caffeine-spiked pizza.

'I'm doomed...' Six thought to himself before breathing a sigh of defeat. 'Ah well..." He cut himself a tiny slice of pizza and started nibbling on it. It was surprisingly good.

Monica gave Tess a coy, "I told you so" smile as she cut herself a slice.

"Don't get so cocky, Miss. Wings..." Tess muttered, munching on her own slice. "You're in charge of cleanup duty when this boy goes on caffeine high."

…...

Noah's eyes were nearly popping out of his head as he stared around him. The living room, dining room, kitchen...everything was completely clean and spotless! Even better, he could smell the enticing scent of bacon. "Andrew?"

"Morning!" Andrew flashed a grin at Noah as he walked into the kitchen. "Finally woke up, did you? Help yourself to some bacon. What do you like on your omelette?"

"Uh...whatever we have..." Noah looked at the shopping bags. "When did you do all this?" He waved a hand in a general gesture before walking over to the counter and grabbing a strip of bacon.

"Last night. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd tidy up a bit and get some non-bologna food for breakfast." He sprinkled some mozzarella cheese onto the omelette he was making. "There's milk and orange juice in the fridge."

Noah cringed. "I'll have milk. I don't think I ever want to drink orange juice again!"

Andrew chuckled as he put the omelette onto a plate. "I don't blame you." He started cracking some more eggs. "So what are your plans for the day?"

"Well...I was going to see if Rex could hang out. I mean, if that's okay." Noah muttered through a mouthful of bacon. He glanced hopefully at the mozzarella omelette.

"Eat it before it gets cold." Andrew smiled as he pulled out the whisk. "And I think some hang out time with Rex could be arranged."

"Sweet! Thanks!" Noah beamed as he started chugging a glass of milk.

"Why don't you go sit in the dining room? I'll bring in another omelette and some more bacon."

"Kay!" Noah picked up his plate and went back into the dining room. "Whoa!" He stared at the large, blue, dove-patterned vase. A bunch of white flowers were sitting in water. "Didn't know I had this."

"You didn't. I bought it to add a bit of color. What do you think?" Andrew placed a huge plate of bacon on the table along with two more omelettes.

Noah shook his head slowly and stared at Andrew with an expression of total bemusement. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not someone I'd ever expect to be working for Providence!"

Andrew's eyes glinted. "I like to do things my own way."

…...

Six glanced at the clock. "Time for briefing." He stood and walked toward the door, glancing over his shoulder. "Rex. Holiday. Bobo."

"Yeah, yeah. Comin', green bean..." Bobo rolled his eyes as he walked past Six.

"Sweet! Let's go! I'm ready to take down some Evos! WHOO!" Rex shot out of his chair and bolted out the door.

Six turned and glared at Monica, who just smiled angelically (Har har!) and waved a hand innocently. 'I'll kill her later...' He thought to himself, before turning and walking out the door. Holiday ran up next to him.

"I guess you were right about the tranquilizers." She muttered, looking down the hall where Rex had disappeared. "Standard patrol today?"

"Probably." Six shrugged a shoulder. Something caught his eye. "You have whipped cream on your face."

Holiday's face flushed. "Where?" She put her hand to her cheek. 'Oh, lovely. Real professional...'

"Here." Six stopped walking and wiped the spot of whipped cream from the corner of Holiday's mouth. Her olive-green eyes widened with shock. Her skin felt really warm... Six allowed his hand to linger a little longer than necessary before retracting and continuing toward the briefing room, trying to ignore the warmth in his own cheeks. 'Get your head on straight, Six! Don't start acting like a lovestruck schoolboy!'

Holiday forced her stunned expression into submission and quickly resumed her pace, her heart pounding like crazy in her chest. 'Did he really...' She shook her head to clear it. 'Calm down, Holiday... Just go to briefing and forget about it. Don't get your hopes up!'

Gloria appeared unseen next to where Six and Holiday had just been. "I don't get it. He was just getting a little whipped cream off of her face. Why does she look so surprised?"

Tess appeared next to her. "Because, baby, Six is one of those people that don't show any sign of emotion to anyone. Therefore, even the smallest sign that he cares is monumental. Especially to Sandra."

"How come?"

"Because she loves him." Monica explained as she joined her friends. "She's been in love with him for five years now."

"Five years?" Gloria's eyes grew wide. "And they aren't married yet?"

"You see, Gloria, humans have a way of taking forever to show even the simplest and purest of emotions." Tess said, her eye on the room that Six, Holiday, Rex, and Bobo had entered. "Sandra has seen a lot of pain in her life, as has Six. That makes showing emotions harder. Now, Sandra is starting to break out of her shell and realize her feelings. Six, on the other hand, is going to need some extra help." She gave Monica a significant glance.

"Why would he need help? I don't understand. Sandra is such a lovely person." Monica thought back to when Holiday had played the guitar the other day.

"Six has lost more than anyone else in this building, Miss. Wings. He believes that becoming attached to anything or anyone else means giving himself more ways to get hurt. However, like it or not, he loves Sandra just as much as she loves him. He loves Rex too. And Bobo. Now, he just needs the courage to show it."

"And that's where I come in?"

"Bingo."

At that moment, Rex shot past them and toward the air ship area. Six and Bobo were following behind him. Holiday was moving toward the office.

"Back to work!" Tess shrugged. "Now you're about to see what the main problem with these people is."

It's kinda short compared to the other two. It'll speed up soon. Don't worry. Please gimme a lot of reviews! But no flames! Flames are for burning Van Kleiss! See ya'll later!