Chapter 8
Life goes on in Providence. Sure, it was only a few days ago that a shirtless Agent Six had stormed through the base, on some sort of warpath no one really wanted to think about too hard. But, really, in an organization like this, you quickly learn to not talk or think about certain things, at least not the ones involving Agent Six anyway. He could skin a man faster than you could blink, and he didn't like to be talked about. In the end though, that threat didn't even matter. With so much always going on at Providence, a shirtless Six didn't warrant a lot of attention for long(at least not as long as a sunglasses-less Six would), and soon everyone had moved on to something else. Then they were reminded of what they forgot.
(0.0)
"Something has breached the outer perimeter!" The alarm system was going crazy, and the soldiers were grabbing weapons, and rushing for the transports waiting to take them the 2 miles to the compromised area. They got there in minutes, and as they poured out of the jets, ready for whatever monster was going to throw itself at them; they found themselves oddly unable to deal with the dust covered lump of man-flesh lying next to the outer wall.
"Bring me some fucking water." The order was a croak, but it was an order all the same. Instantly, one of the younger recruits snapped off their canteen and handed it to the sun burnt and exhausted man. Calan wanted to guzzle down as much of the water that would fit in his stomach, but he knew better, and forced himself to take small, slow sips. He tried to stand, but his body quickly vetoed that option and he sank back onto the ground. "Damn it." He cursed softly. He had used the last of his energy getting over the wall.
"You should really clean your mouth up ya know." piped up a little voice by his shoulder.
"Better not," a similar yet different little voce on the opposite shoulder purred, "It makes you sound tougher." He felt a small hand tracing patters in his neck.
A small sniff sounded by his right ear. "Coarser maybe, but certainly not tougher; It is perfectly possible to sound tough without resorting to vulgarities."
Calan felt the small shrug of the creature relaxing on his left shoulder. "Coarser, tougher, it's all the same thing."
"No it isn't." came the reply.
"Yes it is." The other one shot back effortlessly.
"No it isn't." the first one spoke slowly and clearly as if it were speaking to a small child.
"Yes it is." The second one growled slightly as they answered.
"No it isn't!" the first one replied hotly.
"Yes it is!" The second one replied shrilly.
"Shut up!" Calan broke in with a yell. Instant silence greeted him. Slowly, he looked up at the soldiers who had suddenly frozen in their efforts to rig up something to transport their captain in. Calan blundered, but eventually stuttered "You are making too much noise. I have a headache the size of Alaska. Either be quiet, or give me something for it." Slowly the men turned and continued working on the cot, more quietly than before. Clan muttered quietly, but viciously at the two things on his shoulder.. "I thought you two would go away once I got water. That is what hallucinations are supposed to do."
"Nope, not the way we work hun. You almost died before you were supposed to." The little being in the long, but oddly formfitting white robe and halo hopped down to his lap. "We aren't hallucinations, we're guides. We are here until you don't need us anymore."
The one wearing a black and red mini-dress and holding her red staff jumped down and crossed her legs sensually as she sat on the opposite leg as her sister. "Or until you kick the bucket."
Calan closed his eyes on the two tiny Holidays sitting on him. "Death has never looked so good."
(0.0)
"What's going on?" Rex asked Holiday. An alarm had gone off earlier, but White had told him that he was not needed. None of the soldiers had returned.
"I don't know. I'm sure it's nothing." Holiday was looking into a microscope, and scribbling on a notepad. Rex leaned back against the table, and crossed his arms. As he looked through the large window into the Petting Zoo, Holiday glanced up. "What's on your mind?"
Rex let a smile steal over his face. "Nothing really, I'm just remembering things."
Holiday raised an eyebrow. "Remembering, or Remembering?"
Rex shook his head softly. "Just thinking about the other day. Do you know how pissed off you made him?"
Holiday smiled. "If I had known, I wouldn't have shown up like that." 'Oh, you dirty liar.' she thought to herself.
A footstep sounded behind her. "Sure you wouldn't have." came a slightly raspy voice.
"Calan!" Rex watched as Holiday turned to the man. Calan was being supported by two of his men, and he looked dry and exhausted from his little trip through the desert. "You look… terrible." Holiday motioned Rex away from the examining table. She continued talking steadily as she gathered up various supplies from different drawers and cabinets. "Sit down, or lay down. Whichever is easier for you."
Calan grunted slightly as he was heaved onto the table, but with sheer willpower, he forced himself to stay sitting up. "Fine words from the woman who left me in the middle of a desert alone and without any supplies."
Holiday set everything that she had gathered onto a small rolling table which she wheeled over to the injured man. "I left you supplies." She replied calmly as she began to examine him.
"Woah, Holiday!" the sudden shocked tone in Rex's voice made her look up.
"What?" she asked simply as she went back to checking Calan's blood pressure.
"You really left him in the desert?" Rex looked oddly at the older woman who just replied with a shrug.
"He told me to." She pulled out a gauze pad and sprayed something on it. "This might sting a little." She warned, then began to rub at one of Calan's various scrapes. Calan hissed slightly, but otherwise, he didn't say anything to contradict the woman.
"Even if Calan did say that," Rex glanced doubtfully at the all around miserable man, but continued. "how could no one notice that he was gone? I mean, its not like he is a redshirt, he is kind of important."
One of the 'redshirts' cleared their throat "We knew that the captain was gone, but we assumed that he was still visiting his mother. He sets a few days aside every mo-"
"Ok, that's enough of that, shut up." Calan broke in. Holiday glanced up at the man and was a little surprised to see the faintest hint of a blush tiptoeing across his cheeks. Then she looked down and concentrated on getting the man cleaned up and disinfected. As soon as she finished, she quickly began putting the equipment away, and giving out final instructions. "Drink lots of fluids. Water is good but something like Gatoraid would be better. You need to replenish your electrolytes." She threw a handful of dirty gauze away. "I would hook you up to an I.V. but you appear to be hydrated enough that with fluids you will be fine."
"Then why do I feel like hell ran over me, backed up, and did it again?" Calan rolled his eyes up to meet Holiday's.
"Simply put, you are exhausted. You need rest, lots of it, but then you should be fine." She turned to the two men standing behind their captain. "Bring him directly to his room. I don't care if you have to tie him down, but make sure he doesn't leave his bed for two days."
"What?" Calan suddenly burst out, sitting straighter.
Holiday continued, paying no attention to the man. "Two days minimum. I want him to drink at least 3 liters of fluid today. I don't care what kind." Calan opened him mouth, but Holiday put her hand up. "Yes, three whole liters, preferably more if you can handle it. We want to make sure you get plenty. And no, alcohol is not an accepted fluid."
"You never let me do anything fun." Calan grumbled.
"I let you have a fun adventure in the desert." Holiday pointed out serenely.
Calan looked up at her with a look of slight amazement on his face. "That was evil."
Holiday shrugged. "Well, you were the one saying I never let you do anything."
Calan shook his head in disbelief, and looked at the nearest soldier. Get me out of here before she decides to drop me off in the Artic for a play-date with a polar bear."
Calan tried, he really did, but in the end, he still had to lean heavily on the two men as he stood and began to walk out of the room. "You know, you shouldn't be embarrassed about visiting your mom." Holiday called it out like it was almost an afterthought, and Calan didn't even bother to answer besides vaguely waving his hand at the woman. Then the three men were gone.
Holiday smiled softly to herself, and turned and moved slowly to her computer. She sat down and made herself comfortable in the soft seat, but she didn't turn the computer on. She simply sat there for a few moments, staring into darkened screen.
"You did it just to mess with him." Holiday sat up and spun around, her eyes snapped to the source of the unexpected sound. A forgotten Rex grinned at her from his position leaning on the edge of one of the many counters in the room.
"Did what?" Holiday asked, quirking her head to the side.
"Told him to drink that much water. You know he can't do it."
Holiday used her hands to smooth her hair down. "I have no idea what you are talking about." She turned away from the 19 year old, and flicked her monitor on. Instantly pages began to pop up, each one had a blinking red exclamation mark in the corner, and all of them needed her immediate attention. Holiday had to stare hard at the blinking little marks to successfully ignore the laughter that sounded behind her.
"Whatever Doc. Just promise you'll tell me when you two decide to tie the knot; I want pictures."
Holiday's voice was even as she responded. "I am very busy Rex. If you are going to stay in here I am going to need silence; I have to concentrate." She opened up the first 'urgent' message. It was from the cafeteria. Obviously, tomorrow she would have to buy lunch elsewhere, because they were going on a bug and mouse seek and destroy mission, and would be unable to cook. Holiday made a mental note to buy her lunch from the vending machines from now on.
Rex did sit quietly for a few moments, but then he hopped off the table. "I am going to hunt down Six. I'll talk to you later Doc." Then Rex was trotting down the hall, and Holiday was left alone with her thoughts.
An: Hi! I'm So sorry I didn't update sooner! My school library has been deconstructed, and I'm throwing in all my energy to get it set back up. The sooner it is set back up the sooner my supply of books comes back, and junkie that I am, I am working as hard as I possibly can to get the library back in working order. So I am always sooo tired, so it took me a while to finish typing and editing everything. I really really hope you like it!
Special thanks to:
Hatter Madigan
SixRex Fandom name SeX
And
Cat-Tuong
Without your awesome encouragement, this chapter would not exist! Thanks guys! This week, you get cake! Yay cake!
Please read, review, and criticize!
