OKAY we're moving on to five fics per chapter! 'Cause unfortunately I still have, like, three fics left to write. Whoops, hahahaha. Anyway these ones are pretty long, so enjoy!
61. Impressions
:: Six, Holiday, Noah's mom
"I still don't understand the point of this."
"Oh, come on - Rex needs to socialize more! And I don't have time to teach him everything he needs to know."
Six scoffed. "Needs to know? Doctor, this is a high school. Nothing he'll learn here is important. And Rex socializes plenty."
She sighed in response. "Look, Six, just because you didn't go to high school and you don't socialize doesn't mean Rex has to do the same."
The only response she got was a loud sigh as they entered the large building with "Benjamin Franklin High School" engraved on a plaque out front. Unfortunately for him, Holiday could immediately tell when Six has tensed up upon seeing how many people were scurrying through the hallways.
"You didn't have to come, Six," she said quietly, offering him an out if he was so uncomfortable.
He hesitated, considering it, but instead grabbed the schedule out of her hands and looked it over. "He takes Spanish?"
She rolled her eyes. "He needs to take Spanish."
Shrugging, the agent handed back their ward's schedule and started walking to where the classroom would be. Holiday followed closely, not being able to help herself from glancing in the rooms they passed.
As they arrived, Six noticed with a twitch of his eyebrow that the door was propped open. That was one of the basic rules of safety - always close your door. How could they not know this? And this was a night when strangers to the school were allowed to roam throughout. He already wasn't liking this place.
Holiday strolled past him, ignoring him glaring at the door for who knows what reason, and was suddenly relieved that she didn't have time to change after work. There was actually another person - a man, probably in his mid-thirties - who was wearing a labcoat. She smiled at that and looked around the room.
"...the professor-er, the teacher isn't here?"
Six moved his head to motion in the direction of the whiteboard up front. It said "I'm going to be a few minutes late - feel free to socialize and eat some snacks!"
She frowned. "I'm not here to meet kids' parents, I just want to make sure Rex will be properly educated here."
Six rolled his eyes. "It's a public high school, Dr. Holiday."
"Y'know what, Six?" she started, turning around and poking him in the chest. "I went to a public high school! And wouldn't you know it - I had a good education. So let's not automatically assume that it's-"
"Dr. Holiday! Agent Six!"
The two of them turned around to face an older blonde woman, her husband not-surprisingly absent. "Oh, Mrs. Nixon! I didn't know Noah was taking Spanish."
"Well he was taking German, but I think he decided to switch because of Rex."
The doctor smiled. "Oh, that's so cute of him."
As they chatted a bit, Six discovered a few parental eyes take notice of him and his associate from the snack table on the other side of the room. He twitched, instinctively stepping a bit closer to Dr. Holiday, and turned towards her and Noah's mother.
He was about to interrupt them, not caring if he seemed rude, when a few overweight white women strolled up to them. They were looking more at Dr. Holiday than at Six, which, rather than ease his discomfort, made it worse.
Holiday paused in conversation, having noticed the women, and turned to them. "Um...hi?"
One of them smiled brightly and held out her hand. "Hi, hello, yes, um...we were curious, are you the teacher? Or are you a parent?"
Holiday frowned. Did she look like a teacher? This wasn't a chemistry class. "Not the teacher. I'm, um...a parent, I suppose."
Another one of the women stepped forward. "How old are you?"
Holiday raised an eyebrow. She hadn't associated with civilians in years. This interaction made her realize that she didn't really miss it. "I'm, uh...31."
The women paused, eyes wide, and looked at each other, then back to Holiday, then over to Six, then back to Holiday.
"So...is this the father, then?"
Rebecca, completely surprised by the question, felt herself blush. She was sure her entire face had turned red. "I-no, I'm not-"
Six, having gotten used to people assuming things about his and Dr. Holiday's relationship over the years (Providence soldiers seem to think that, since he was a man, he'd have no problem sharing details about his relationship with Dr. Holiday. Not that they had one, but even if they did...), stepped in and shook his head.
"We're Rex's guardians, not his parents," he answer for her, leaving the women to nod their heads in understanding.
"That makes so much more sense. You were right, Kathy!" the one said, turning towards the other women and starting up their gossip again. Apparently they were no longer interested in the young doctor, who was biting the inside of her cheek.
Mrs. Nixon couldn't help but laugh, and grabbed Dr. Holiday's arm, pulling her towards the snack table and away from Six and those women. Six decided he'd just wait outside the door of the room so he could sufficiently glare at the teacher when she arrived. He already had very little respect for this woman - this Señora Rodriquez.
Holiday poured herself a cup of fruit punch and drank it rather bitterly. "I can't believe they thought I had a fifteen-year-old. Do I look like the type of person to have a kid in high school?!"
Mrs. Nixon let out another chuckle, grabbing herself a cookie. "Come on, Rebecca, you know you don't. Those women were obviously just confused. But - that being said, you and Six still aren't together, right?"
Holiday rolled her eyes. "No, we're not. And what do you mean 'still'?"
"Nothing, nothing!" the woman defended, holding up her hands. "But I figured you might wanna know about the man in the labcoat - I know you noticed him. Name's Richard Johnson, he's a scientist, only has this one kid, and he's single."
Rebecca glared at the woman she was only...somewhat friends with. "Carolyn, please, I don't have time for-"
"Don't give me that, Rebecca! Even with the EVOs everywhere, you're still aging just the same. And trust me when I say you're definitely his typ-hey! He's walking this way!"
Rebecca glared even harder, concern evident on her face. "Oh God, we're not in high school, Carolyn, I'm not-"
"We are in a high school, though! I'll go see what Agent Six is up to!" And at that, she hopped away, leaving Rebecca awkwardly standing there as the tall man walked up to her.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation earlier. You're Rex's guardian? The kid from Providence?"
She blinked, not expecting the question. "Um...yes, I am."
He smiled, grabbing her hand. "Then you must be the famous Dr. Holiday," he leaned down and brought her hand up, kissing it in such a cliché way that Holiday couldn't help but smile. "I've been following your publicized work for years. It's all fascinating. I was especially intrigued by your article about..."
As they continued their conversation, Holiday eager to chat with someone who actually held such an interest in her work, Six was dragged back into the room by Mrs. Nixon.
"Oh, don't worry so much, Six. Noah told me Señora Rodriquez is always late to class."
He made an unsatisfied face. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"
She shrugged. "I guess not. Though I-...wow."
He raised an eyebrow, following the direction of her eyes. It seemed the teacher had arrived. And, even being himself, he had to admit that "wow" was right.
She had long, black, curly hair and just the right amount of makeup to accentuate her best features - along with an outfit that Six should've found inappropriate, but somehow she still made it look professional.
Oh, no, Rex would not learn a thing from a woman like this. He'd be much too busy drooling. Sure, Rex learned a decent amount from Dr. Holiday while being attracted to her, but he was used to Holiday. This woman was...
He ignored the rest of his thoughts, opting instead to look around for Dr. Holiday. When he found her, she seemed to be finishing up a very animated conversation with what seemed to be another doctor. As the man handed her a piece of paper and started to walk away, Six couldn't help but notice a small smile and side glance sent from Holiday to this other doctor.
Well, that explained what was on the piece of paper. He suddenly felt even more uncomfortable. Perhaps his reason to be here - making sure that Rex's teachers wouldn't mistreat him for being an EVO - wasn't a good enough reason to waste three hours in this uncomfortable, confined space. Dr. Holiday was a good judge of character, she could handle that herself.
With that in mind, he stepped next to the doctor. "I'm going to head back to base. I'll be back at 8 to pick you up."
She blinked, surprised. "O-oh, um...alright. Don't be late, okay?"
He nodded, satisfied with her lack of argument, and walked out the door.
Now sitting in a chair, only somewhat listening to the ridiculously gorgeous teacher, Mrs. Nixon noticed Six sneak out the door. She frowned and looked over to Dr. Holiday, who had an eyebrow raised - probably confused as to why Six left.
She brought a hand up to her mouth, suppressing a laugh. That woman was pretty oblivious, wasn't she?
62. Irregular Orbit
:: Six, Rex, Holiday :: Next in the When EVOs Attack! Series. Another player has been added to the game!
It was supposed to be a very simple mission. The EVO was reported to be relatively small - only about five feet tall when on its' hind legs. Apparently some people who'd been in contact with it started acting weird after it fired out a shot of gas at them - so the police called in Providence. A little thing. Six and Rex were wearing small gas masks, so they'd be fine.
What they didn't expect, however, was that the gas wasn't actually what the EVO did. As soon as the two agents came in contact with the EVO, it spit out gas everywhere, at least a two hundred foot radius, and Six immediately realized that the gas was a cover for whatever the EVO actually did. They were unprepared. This was gonna be ugly.
"Six!" Rex yelled out, unable to see through the mist. "What's-hey!"
Six immediately headed in the direction of Rex's voice, only to find himself knocked off his feet by Rex being thrown his way. As soon as he fell back, both of them were suddenly bathed in a bright light.
The boys both screamed out in pain, and could barely register Holiday's voice yelling out for them on their comm links.
"We've got them. They're out cold - but they're breathing. Headed back to base now."
"Good. Keep them sedated - we don't know what it could've done to them. And send some men out to find that EVO!"
Opening his eyes slowly, Rex quickly took in his surroundings. White walls, white furniture, white clothing - yeah, he was in Providence. As much as that was good to know, how'd he get back here? They were in the middle of Wisconsin, last time he checked.
Sitting up, he moved his usual glasswear to the top of his head and rubbed at his eyes.
"You're awake!"
He could hear Holiday's familiar footsteps and looked up, giving her one of his usual smirks. "Worried about me, Doc?"
She immediately frowned, giving him a confused expression. She shrugged it off and smiled at him. "Don't I always?"
He just smiled in response, and loved the fact that Holiday was practically staring at him. She really couldn't take her eyes off. Maybe this would be a good day after all.
"So how are you feeling? That EVO really knocked you guys out...any weirdness at all?"
He leaned over towards her and put a hand under his chin. "Feeling pretty great, actually. In fact, I feel so great, I think we should go grab some dinner to celebrate! I'll even buy! How 'bout it?"
"I-you...what?" Holiday couldn't hold back a blush as she stuttered, looking between the man in front of her and the one starting to wake up in the next bed. "I-I, um...oh! L-look who's up!"
Rex smirked at how cute Holiday was being as she walked over to the figure next to Rex. Her face was still red, but she was obviously trying to ignore his proposition and focus on her other patient.
"Urgh...Holiday. What happened? Did they get the EVO?"
Hearing that familiar voice - a little too familiar - Rex turned to look over at Holiday's other patient.
It was...himself?
Rex stared carefully at his double, tilting his head. Holiday and other!Rex were talking for a bit, when other!Rex finally looked over at him. And glared.
"...Doc, why am I looking at myself?" Rex asked suddenly.
"Looking at yourself? What do you-..." she paused, quickly looking back and forth between the two boys. "Oh, you've got to be kidding."
Other!Rex looked down at his hands, then his eyes trailed up his sleeves and eventually he just leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "Dr. Holiday. Please tell me what's happened isn't what I think it is."
The doctor rubbed a hand against her temple and looked over at whom she thought was Six. "This would explain so much. Rex? Is that you?"
Rex raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Who else would it be?"
Other!Rex glared over at him. "Use your head, Kid! Can you not hear that your voice isn't your normal voice?!"
"My normal...voice?" Now that he thought about it, something didn't sound right...in fact...his voice was familiar, but not his own...it was...
"AY DIOS MIO!" Rex yelled, jumping off the table and heading to the nearest bathroom. As soon as he saw his reflection in the mirror, he screamed again.
He was in Six's body. And that meant Six was in his body! He couldn't stay stuck as a pasty old green guy! How was he supposed to get dates looking like this? Jumping out of the bathroom, Rex ran back over to where Dr. Holiday was talking to Rex's body. Which was inhabited by Six. Apparently.
"You're lucky those soldiers didn't kill that EVO - otherwise I'd have no way to fix this," Holiday said sternly, turning around to see Six's body staring at her.
"Rex, put the sunglasses on," Six commanded, noticing that some of the nearby scientists were staring. "The less people know about this, the better."
Rex followed his own voice's orders, unable to stop himself from watching Holiday leave the room. Six saw his own body showing such obvious interest in the doctor and scowled, a slight redness to his cheeks. "Will you stop that? You need to act like me when there's people around, got it?"
Rex smirked and leaned on the table next to his body. "Yeah, yeah, I get it - but seriously Six, you should've seen how cute she was! Granted, she thought I was you, but that doesn't stop it from being super cute!"
Six slapped a hand against his forehead and sighed. "Just focus on not drawing attention to yourself, alright? Holiday'll have this fixed soon and we can just pretend it never happened."
"Of course, of course," Rex said, still thinking about Holiday.
"Stop smiling!"
63. Cold Embrace
:: White, Six, OC
"Where is my husband?"
Six held up his hands. "Calm down. He's alive and he's breathing and he's conscious. He's not injured."
"Then why can't I see him? I...I'd like to see him now, if possible."
He sighed. "We're...working on it. There's just one small problem and...I think he'd rather tell you himself." Six raised an eyebrow as his comm beeped, and pressed a finger to his ear. "Six here."
The woman in front of him stayed silent as Six listed to the person on his comm. She was getting impatient, but this was a government...military-type organization. Even with her Lieutenant ranking in the United States army, she didn't have any authority at this new facility. They had their own rules here.
After a moment, he ended the call and looked back at her. "I'll take you to see him now."
She smiled. "Thank you."
Six left her alone in an entirely white room. The walls were white. The floor was white. The ceiling was white. Her husband was not here. Six told her to just wait there and he'd arrive soon enough. What was going on? Why was everything so secretive if he was okay?
Ten seconds later, a giant video screen lowered and suddenly blipped to show her White Knight's face. She brightened momentarily, then immediately frowned.
"David! You...you look so pale! What's wrong? Where are you?"
White closed his eyes. "Maria. I'm...I'm fine. It's complicated."
"If you're fine, why aren't you out here with me?"
"There was an incident earlier. My body was just seconds away from being ripped apart at the seams." He ignored the horrified look on her face. "...instead, I'm one hundred percent nanite free."
"You...don't have nanites?" she blinked. "That means there's no chance of you going EVO? Ever?"
"Correct."
"Sweetie, that's fantastic! But...why are you-?" She paused and wrinkled her eyebrows as she considered what no-nanites meant.
"I could be reinfected with nanites very easily. Physical contact. Eating something that hasn't been properly monitored."
"...you don't mean-"
"Even just stepping outside of this nanite-free room I had my scientists design could lead me to be contaminated."
"David..."
"To avoid any risk of becoming infected, I have chosen to stay here."
"..."
"Permanently."
Maria closed her eyes and brought her enclosed hands up to her mouth. "Is this...is this really what you want, David? To be alone and trapped in that room for the rest of your life?"
White glared at her. "Yes. I've made this decision, my superiors agree with it. I'm now the only living thing on Earth without nanites and that image will improve Providence's reputation worldwide."
"So this is about Providence's rep?" she asked. "They're just using this condition you're stuck in to give scared people some false hope for the future?"
"False hope?!" White slammed a fist on his desk. "If I'm nanite-free, then so can the next person! And the next! And once we've rid the world of nanites, everything can finally go back to how it was before! How can you consider that false?!"
Maria could feel herself beginning to tear up. She knew this might be the last time she ever interact with her husband and she desperately did not want it to end on such a sour note. "...you're right, David. This is for the best. You stay here. I'll tell Seth where his father is."
"Don't bring him into this, Maria."
"Are you saying he's not relevant, David?! He's your son! You're...you're supposed to be there for him!"
"He's an adult. He hasn't needed either of us for years. I'm...sorry for how this decision will affect you, Maria. I am."
"You sure sound like it."
"This is the best course of action. I'm not arguing with you."
"No, of course not. I'll just leave. It'll make this easier, right?"
White didn't respond, just staring at her with a pitiful look on his face. Maria wanted to slap him. Hug him. Kiss him. All three. She was going to miss him. She turned around and started to head towards the door.
"...Maria, I'm sorry. I don't want things to end like this."
She didn't turn back around to look at him. "I love you, David. This doesn't change that. But I didn't marry you so that I could only see you through a screen."
"...I'm sorry."
"Me too," she finished, walking fully out the door and letting it close behind her.
64. Frost
:: Six, Rex, Holiday :: This should probably be in my When EVOs Attack! Series, but there's no Holix. Well, a little bit of Holix. Okay, that goes with the series. …it goes with ME.
There was a reason they didn't bring her on missions. Holiday would argue, of course, but Six and Rex lost their focus when something bad happened to her. Six always freezes up, Rex always gets emotional and is unable to keep up his builds, and even White Knight gets a bit more miffed than usual. He's fine with working hazards, but he's come to recognize that Rex doesn't function well without Holiday and Six. He's annoyed by it, but he's been forced to recognize it.
This time, as every time, Holiday wanted to study the EVO. It was potentially one of Van Kleiss', so they understood. White supported it, even. But Six did not. Rex didn't say anything. Bobo was, fortunately, on vacation – no need for his inappropriate quips. Especially considering what happened next.
It wasn't long after they exited the Keep. Rex stepped out, Six stepped out, Holiday stepped out. The EVO was supposed to be relatively small, the witness who called for Providence services said it didn't seem like much…just that it was freezing roads and buildings and people. Buildings weren't a huge issue, but frozen roads meant car crashes and frozen people meant potentially immediate death.
Holiday was lucky. Six made sure she knew that afterwards. When this small, furry creature ran out in front of the group, Rex got into position and Six just sheathed a sword. Holiday had her gun, but the size of the EVO made her feel like Rex and Six would be enough.
Until the EVO opened its mouth. Its mouth opened to be three times the EVO's size, and immediately there was a bright blue light shimmering from inside. Six immediately screamed "Scatter!" at the group so Rex and Holiday followed orders.
The bright blue light shot out, Rex and Six were out of range, but the edge of it grabbed at Holiday's foot. She screeched as her foot was suddenly an ice cube and she fell over flat onto her stomach and arms.
Six and Rex had run to the other side of the blast and started to freak almost immediately. The EVO generated another blast and Rex and Six both ran to get her out of range of the attack. "Get it away!" Six screamed at Rex.
Rex kicked the EVO while Six tried to drag Holiday away, but unfortunately the combined efforts led to the EVO blasting from air to ground and freezing Holiday's legs and torso. She screeched and Six flinched and glared over at Rex.
"Rex! What are you doing?!" He felt Holiday's arms go limp in his grip and he leaned down to lift her up. "Holiday! Wake up!"
Rex was smashing the tiny EVO under his giant feet and yelling out apologies while Six shook the doctor repeatedly. "Holiday you need to stay awake!" She was still breathing, she was still warm in the face, she was groggy and making some sounds. Six lifted her up and stabbed a sword through the ice block between her legs. It cracked just the way he wanted it to, but obviously she still couldn't move her legs. He needed to do something about this as soon as possible.
"Are you done with it?" Six screamed over at Rex. Rex was already next to him holding the unconscious EVO. "Good. Get it in a sealed cage and find some blankets."
Rex shrugged off his jacket and threw it on Holiday's legs. "Be right back," he said with some hesitation in his voice. Six knew what he was doing, right? No way Holiday would die like this. It was just her legs. Right?
Six took off his jacket, too, and started rubbing them against her legs. They could deal with potential inappropriateness later never, she needed this now. "Holiday, grip my shirt so I know you're still awake."
She did just that, gripping her hands around the collar of his white shirt. "Six-"
He almost breathed a sigh of relief. "Holiday, you-"
"I…can't f-feel my legs at all," she murmured. "You need to m-melt the ice. P-Please…"
"I'm…." Six stared down at her legs and noticed nothing was changing. "I'm trying. Do you have any ideas?"
She nodded her head. "Blades...m-magnablades…"
He shook her a bit and kept rubbing her legs. "…the electricity?" There was a reason she had three PhDs. "I…that'd be too dangerous, Holiday. Wait for Rex."
She shook her head. "I-it's not melting like n-normal ice, S-Six."
He lifted the jackets and looked. She was right – the ice hadn't changed at all. He grimaced – Rex getting blankets wasn't going to help, either. Maybe…
Six grabbed his magnablades and lightly chiseled at the ice surrounding her legs. Fortunately, that seemed to be working significantly better than trying to melt the ice. He was going to try breaking it up and hopefully it would just fall off.
Holiday was scrunching her face while he was chiseling – Six desperately hoped this wasn't hurting her. But her legs freezing to the point of paralysis was worse than some cuts or ice burn. And where the hell was Rex?
Speak think of the devil, Six suddenly felt the force of four blankets hitting him in the head and back. His sunglasses flew off and landed on the other side of Holiday. He growled and pulled them from his back and put them around Holiday's shoulders while he continued to chisel at her legs.
"Sorry, Six – wait, why aren't you putting them on her legs?" Rex slid on his knees and swung to Holiday's other side.
"Wasn't working. The ice doesn't melt. But it does break," Six said quickly. "Keep her awake while I do this, I need to focus."
"Right, okay, um, hey Doc!" Rex looked over at Holiday, who was still clutching Six's shirt. "Are you…um…feeling warmer at all?"
She exhaled with a small smile. "…a b-bit."
Rex smiled back. "Sorry you got caught in that. Six is probably gonna give you a mouthful when we get back to base."
"P-Probably. He'll still b-be wrong," she said.
Six rolled his eyes while they kept talking. He had a big chunk of the ice off of her legs, so best scenario was happening: she was going to be okay. Unless the ice had some other, more permanent effect. He desperately hoped not.
"So she's just sleeping, right? She's not...gonna die...right?"
Six sighed. "Right. She's not going to die. As far as we know, anyway. She'll be looked at when we get back to base."
"Are you gonna tell White about this?"
"...yes, I am," Six said, turning to look at his ward. "He needs to be updated on our mission status."
Rex rubbed the back of his neck. "What if White doesn't want Holiday going on missions anymore?"
Six rolled his eyes. "Then she won't be going on missions anymore. Until she nags White's ear off and gets the privilege back. You know Holiday - it won't be long."
"Yeah, that's true," Rex said with a nod. "I'm gonna go check on her, then..."
"Don't wake her up."
"No problem!" Rex ran towards the medical bay of their ship.
With Rex gone, Six took a moment to slump in his seat and take off his sunglasses. They-er, Rex almost lost Holiday there. He wouldn't function right without Holiday. No one else could comfort the kid like she did. And if that meant she wouldn't be allowed to join them on a few missions, so be it. She could yell at them through their earpieces like usual. And he'd have no problem with that.
65. A Moment in Time
:: Six, Holiday, Xanubian
((Okay, some background 'cause I'm not gonna write out this whole thing hahaha. This is an excerpt from an alternate finale that I thought would've been more interesting…this particular segment has Holix which the finale was lacking in B) I'm JK, the finale wasn't bad, but imagine instead of combining the consortium together so Rex could take them on at once, every ally Rex had ever made coming back and grouping off to take out the consortium one by one all at the same time.
More like the ending of Motorcity or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. 'Cause my favorite kind of finale is when every character comes together to help take out the bad guy and everyone gets a final chance to shine. Unfortunately, GenRex didn't offer that kind of ending and I was disappointed. So here's a very, very Holix-y section of this fake ending which I will never write in full 'cause I'm a lazy mofo.))
Grunts were running every which way through the cargo bay. Grabbing parachutes by the dozen, shouting orders, preparing to go down to find whichever consortium member they'd tracked down most recently and were getting close to. They'd already sent Rex after Black Knight, Rex's friends from Hong Kong and a large group of grunts went after Roswell, and White Knight, Bobo Haha, Captain Callan, and an even larger group of grunts went for Haden-Scott.
Holiday was a combination of worried and confident that Rex could take down Black Knight on his own – without that Feakins guy around to mess with Rex's powers, he could've done it already. So she was only worried in the sense that she was always worried about him. She'd been venting her worries to Six, who was initially going after the next one on his own, but Holiday demanded he have at least one other person with him. He was only human, after all. And she was pleasantly surprised that he asked her to be the one to join him.
Six, ever since this had been formally planned out and they were hovering over exactly where they needed to be dropped, was completely silent. He was clearly in deep thought about something, Holiday assumed it was the fact that this next fight…could be his last. It could the last fight for any and all of them. It was frightening, but important to face facts.
Hoping to clear the air, Holiday walked over to Six and put a hand on his arm. "You getting yourself all mentally prepared?"
"You could say that," Six said quietly. After he spoke, the hatch opened up, and an announcement went through their ears that they should be jumping out of there in two minutes, no delaying.
"Six, you'll-" Holiday started to speak when her comm went off. She clicked it and listened for a second. "Thanks," she said into the comm. "Six, it's Xanubian. We're fighting Xanubian." She was worried – very clearly.
The agent considered this. Xanubian had inexplicable time manipulation powers. Holiday had mentioned multiple times how curious she was about the workings of them, but obviously they'd never get the chance to study them when attached to someone so dangerous and power-hungry. It was too bad. But Six was glad that if anyone had to fight a man so dangerous, it was him. And unlike the other consortium members, Xanubian never spoke, making his motives unknown and even more concerning.
With all this in mind, he looked over at Holiday, who had her eyes closed and was mumbling to himself. If he didn't know better, Six would've thought she was praying. She opened her eyes just as the hatch opened up for them to jump out in a minute.
"Ready, Six?" she asked with a cautious smile.
Six continued to stare at her before making a final decision. He stepped closer to her and paused.
Holiday blinked at his behavior and didn't say anything for about ten seconds, seeing if he was going to continue. "…Six?"
Rather than respond verbally, Six very suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into a quick but passionate kiss. Holiday let out a squeak of surprise and, to Six's silent disappointment, didn't kiss back. Instead she grabbed onto his shoulders and pushed him away after a few seconds.
Six immediately pulled them back towards each other – not back to kissing, but so that she could feel his heavy breathing against her cheek and vice versa. Holiday took a few seconds of scrunching her eyes closed before speaking. "Prove you're really Six."
"How do I do that?" he answered quietly.
"Don't know. …do something only Six would do," she said back, not really sure what he'd do in response.
But Six just nodded, happy that those were the words she picked. He kissed her again, very briefly, and in one quick moment whipped out his sword and sliced through the straps on her parachute. She kissed him back that time and didn't seem to notice the lack of weight on her shoulders as Six stepped away and grabbed his hoverboard. "I'm sorry, Rebecca," he said before jumping out of the plane.
Holiday blinked and looked at the ground behind her, seeing the torn parachute. "Dammit, Six!" she screamed out despite knowing he couldn't hear her. She quickly turned around and cornered the nearest Providence grunt, grabbing him by the collar. "I need another parachute! Now!"
He stuttered, clearly not knowing what was going on. "A-all the parachutes a-are being used," he said. "W-White Knight said there was barely enough f-for everyone…"
Holiday dropped him and tried to ignore the tears starting to well up in her eyes. She hadn't cried from anger in a long time and she wasn't about to do it now. Six didn't think she could handle it down there, did he? Or maybe he just wanted to play the hero like some kind of idiot. Well she wasn't having any of that crap. "We're landing this plane. NOW."
It seemed that Xanubian was still unsure of the extent of his powers. Time manipulation was confusing enough as it was, but one man being able to focus on specific things and send them back only a few seconds, with their memories in tact…well, it was a skill that needed to be practiced before implemented. When Six found him, he was doing just that.
Some poor animals were being forced to redo their steps over and over again as the consortium member continued attempting to mess with his powers. A deer would run towards him, he'd reverse time for the deer, appear somewhere else, and the deer would run to the old spot just as before. Then it would look confused and try to run away. Six was pretty sure this counted as animal cruelty.
He was also pretty sure he didn't know how to win this fight. A man – robot? – who could change a fight as it was happening. Six could hit him, but he'd just go back in time to make it so he didn't hit him anymore. There was no winning a fight like that. There was just…distracting him until the rest of the consortium had been finished off. That was the only option he had. And with Holiday out of the equation so that he wouldn't get…distracted, Six knew this was what he had to do.
From a tree a bit of a distance away, Six tossed a few shuriken at Xanubian while his back was turned. They made impact – one of them scratching the top of his head and continuing further while the others impaled his back and the back of his head very nicely. Six immediately moved to a different branch in the hopes that Xanubian couldn't manipulate an object he couldn't see.
A second later, or was it a second earlier?, Six found himself back on the tree branch from before and shooting those shuriken again. He blinked at the realization. Shit. He turned around just in time to see Xanubian's large hand slap across his face and send him flying to the ground.
Generally unharmed, Six got up quickly and retreated to the other side of a very large tree. So Xanubian either spotted him or didn't need to spot him to manipulate him. He needed to keep testing this theory until he was sure it was one or the other. Six threw more shuriken at the robotic EVO, satisfied by the sound of scratched metal, and stayed in one place rather than moving to another tree. Maybe that was how Xanubian spotted him before. Or maybe-
His thoughts were cut off by him unwittingly throwing the shuriken again and in the same place as before. Followed by, yet again, Xanubian smacking him and sending him to the ground. No, this was definitely a battle he couldn't win. Six needed to defeat him before he could manipulate time – but how the hell was he going to do that?
Deciding to try the direct approach, Six stood up and threateningly took out one of his swords, holding it towards the consortium member. The sneak attacks were ineffective and he was already feeling a burn in his chest from being hit so hard twice in a row. With the robotic creature looking right at him, Six considered his options. Throw one sword then attack with the other? That might be enough to delay him. But it could also lead to Xanubian manipulating time and space so that Six ended up stabbing himself with his own sword. Though he might've been interested in using this battle as a way to learn about his own powers, so maybe he wouldn't let Six die just yet.
With that in mind, Six decided to charge – throwing one of his swords at Xanubian and then slicing with the other. The first sword hit, much to Six's joy, but as he went to slice down on the EVO's busted arm, he was suddenly back where he started and throwing his sword again.
This time, the sword clunked right into a tree a bit in the distance, and Six stopped himself from finishing his attack before turning around – hoping to defend himself from what was likely to be yet another slap.
Instead, Xanubian grabbed Six's head with his gigantic robotic hand and squeezed. Six gripped the sides of Xanubian's hand in an attempt to pull him off, but the EVO's grip was too tight and he just squeezed tighter. He proceeded to shake Six around a bit before an electrical impulse started shocking through his arm and into Six. The agent screamed out in pain as the shocks visibly convulsed through his entire body.
It was at that moment that Holiday and a couple of grunts started running up from a small ways back. As soon as the doctor recognized what was happening, she shot at Xanubian repeatedly. Unfortunately, her bullets just bounced off of him, and he slowly turned around to look at what was creating this minor annoyance.
Holiday noticed that Six wasn't moving in the EVO's grip. He wasn't moving at all. She held her breath and waited to see what was coming.
After a moment, Xanubian tossed Six's body off to the side – it smacked against the same tree his sword was embedded in and just slid down to the ground. Holiday felt herself wanting to run to him, but knowing Xanubian could kill her instantly if she tried kept her stuck in one place. The grunts behind her continued to shoot at him for a bit before realizing the inevitable failure of their efforts.
Despite his lack of eyes, Holiday felt like she was staring down with the EVO in front of her. She felt like he was considering whether or not to waste his time killing her and the three grunts she'd brought with. He was probably wondering if it'd take more than a few seconds – maybe even less than that, since he could manipulate time at his will – but the fact that he was using up his time to mull it over gave her a bit of confidence that she might live to see another day. Or at least another hour.
After another ten seconds of silence, Xanubian started to move – floating off in the direction away from them and Six. Holiday kept her hands out to stop the grunts behind her from moving until Xanubian was well out of sight before looking back at them. "Keep tabs on where he's headed and report back to White Knight immediately! I'm…I'll go check on Six."
They nodded and went off for their own tasks while Holiday's feet moved faster than ever before and she slid down on her knees next to Six's body. "Six! Six?!" She put her hands on his face and took a short moment to state before moving her ear to his chest.
She could hear the tiniest, faintest heartbeat. But it was there. "Six…Six if you can hear me, you are the biggest idiot in the world! I can't believe you would do something so-! So!" She moved her hands to his ribs to see how they felt – definitely a few broken ones in there – and then back up to his face.
"Wake up, Six. Say something. Please," she pleaded. "You can't do this to me again, Six. Just…" Holiday sighed and leaned her head down. "…not again."
Rebecca bit her lip at Six's lack of response and squeezed her eyes shut. If he was in a coma again, there was not going to be enough time to get him proper medical attention. If he woke up in the next five minutes…maybe he'd be okay. But…what were the chances? She had no idea how much damage Xanubian caused before she got there. How long had Six been knocked out? What was that electrical charge he sent through Six's system? She was just…clueless. And useless. And she couldn't stand it.
The tears starting flowing freely and Holiday felt like an idiot for crying – never did any good. But losing Six meant this battle was lost no matter what the outcome. She knew Rex would feel the same way and she was not looking forward to that conversation. No one could be ready for that.
After another thirty seconds or so of letting her adrenaline rush calm down and finally wiping the tears off her face, Holiday started to move away from Six's body when she felt a squeeze. She gasped and looked down to see his hand covering hers on his chest.
"Six?!" she said louder than intended.
He pursed his lips momentarily. "…this…would've been…the third time," he said suddenly.
Holiday was smiling and the tears started to flow again. "Huh?" she asked, taking off his sunglasses and wiping the sweat off his forehead with her freehand.
"The…third time…" Six repeated. "…in a…coma."
She let out a tired laugh. "Y-yeah. I guess it would've been. How do you…how do you feel?"
"Been better," he said. "…been worse."
"You have some broken ribs," Holiday said, trying to get the smile off her face, but she couldn't get it to go away. "Can you move at all?"
Six nodded slowly, letting go of her hand and pushing himself into an upright position. Normally Holiday would've scolded him for overexerting himself when he was injured, but…he was alive. She was still reveling in that fact.
Rebecca put her hands on the sides of Six's face and smiled. "I'm glad you're alive, Six."
"Me, too." He smiled back.
Their faces started moving towards one another – slowly, as Six was still in a significant amount of pain – but before their lips made contact, Holiday's eyes widened and she put her fingers over his lips.
"Wait. How did you…" she scrunched her eyebrows. "How did you know you've been in a coma twice?"
Six raised an eyebrow at her. "Once with…with that Ben kid. And when your sister was…cured. Th-that makes two."
"Y-yes, but…you…" Holiday moved her hands down to his shoulders. "…do you…remember that?"
"Of course I r-…" Six stopped himself and his eyes widened as he realized something. "I…I remember everything."
Rebecca's jaw hung open in disbelief. "You…but…how?!"
Six shook his head – and regretted it immediately 'cause of the pain – and grabbed her arm with his right hand. "I don't…well. Time…time manipulation. Maybe…Xa-Xanubian caused it?"
"That doesn't make any-!" Holiday started to say, but she bit her lip instead. "Y'know what? I don't care. You're alive and you remember everything and-" She was cut off by Six suddenly kissing her again. Not even a half-second passed before she was kissing back, and she slowly pushed Six so he was comfortably leaning back instead of forcing himself to lean forward.
They broke apart after twenty seconds and Holiday was smiling brighter than she had in months.
Six kept his eyes shut for a minute before looking over at her. "That…that first date we went on. It was terrible. Gotta…redo."
Holiday laughed and kissed him quickly. "Fine, we can redo it as many times as you want. But first we've got to get back to The Keep and catch up with Rex. Can you get up?"
He moved himself around in place for a few seconds before stopping. "No. You can just-"
"I'm bringing a stretcher and some grunts. Don't even think about telling me to leave you by yourself. Not again, Six," she scolded and quickly ran off towards The Keep.
Six just sighed and closed his eyes. He had broken ribs, some kind of concussion, electrical burns, and…suddenly six and a half years of moments and lives and conversations came flooding back to him all at once. He could use some time to himself.