ix.

Rex admits that he mainly went for the pizza.

What? He's a growing boy and his stomach was getting really rumbly. Plus, pizza. It's PIZZA. He would murder a man for a good slice.

Anyway, he shows up to the pizza place ten minutes after his first ever phone call, belly starving and smile nervous. The place is not particularly busy, but no one looks at him strange for loitering.

When one of the employees asks him if he's ready to order, he shakes his head, realizing he has exactly zero dollars in cash. And zero dollars in credit. Basically, he is flat broke. Rex really hopes Noah brings some money when he comes, otherwise this will be a very awkward conversation over water and no pizza.

Noah (bless his rich heart) does not disappoint. After spotting Rex, who offers a tentative wave that goes ignored, Noah - who looks exactly like his picture - walks to the counter and orders a large cheese pizza, slapping a twenty dollar bill down perhaps a tad harder than necessary.

Then he strides over to Rex's booth in that I-really-want-to-run-but-that-would-be-inappropriate-in-this-setting jog that people do.

"Rex." He says formally, all the chill of Antarctica packed into his tone.

"Noah.." Rex replies, trying not to let it sound like a question.

Silence reigns for a long moment. The sounds of other people enjoying their food pop into the foreground. Still, neither boy speaks.

There's this extremely awkward patch where Noah seems to be attempting to light Rex on fire by glare, and Rex is doing everything he can to avoid that intense gaze. The dam finally breaks when the pizza arrives and Noah starts screaming.

Well, he yells until people start giving them looks - then he lowers his voice to a very upset conversational tone. It's mostly about Rex being a colossal jerk, not calling, not texting, yada yada yada. Then it just becomes rant after rant.

Dang, can Noah rant - the short blond seems to love ranting - but it becomes easy to tune out the second Rex crams a slice of pizza into his mouth. Then, everything narrows down to him and his extremely, out-of-this-universe delicious meal, and he hears nothing else. It's not as though he would understand any of it, anyway.

"You done inhaling the pizza?" Noah's comment breaks into his new-found heaven.

In-between stuffing a sixth and seventh slice into his mouth, he looks up guiltily.

"Um..." He swallows with difficultly. "Yes?"

"Good." But Noah is smiling, so Rex knows the teen is simply teasing. Apparently, most of his anger is already out of his system. As well it should be, considering how much he yelled at me, Rex thinks. Then the blond turns serious again, and Rex realizes his thirst for answers still has yet to be satiated.

"So what happened to your arm?"

Suddenly Rex isn't hungry anymore. He lifts a shoulder, avoiding Noah's gaze as he absently stirs his drink with a straw. There's an abrupt thickness in the back of his throat and a mild concern that he might lose all of his recently gained food.

"I dunno." He says, even though it's a bit of a lie - he can still see the gleam of gold, and a laugh and a fall. His fingers feel ice cold, and his broken arm aches anew.

Then he decides to just come out with it, rip the band-aid off.

"I-I actually...can't remember."

There's confusion and (surprise surprise) more worry on Noah's face.

"What, did you fall and hit your head or something? Is that how it happened?"

Rex realizes Noah is thinking only of his arm, and suddenly just wants to bolt. He already got his pizza, after all.

But he swallows and tries one more time.

"No, I don't...I can't remember anything."

Noah stares. He doesn't blink for at least five minutes, and Rex thinks that's probably bad. It certainly doesn't make him feel any less nervous or self-conscious.

It's what feels like an eternity of awkward, uncomfortable staring later before the boy's jaw just goes slack, and he runs a hand through blond hair.

Noah blows out an exasperated, disbelieving sigh, his cheek falling limply into his hand.

"Again?" He says.

"Um...what?" Rex replies wittily.

"Oh man...oh man oh man oh man..." Noah is moaning into his hands, shaking his head back and forth as though denial will change the situation. "Really? Really? Why, of all people, did my best friend have to be a reoccurring amnesiac?"

"So you..you know about my memory problem." Rex struggles to get out. It's one thing for Doctor Holiday and Agent Six to know things about himself he doesn't, but it's an entirely other matter when random people know things he has barely just learned.

Sometimes (most times) Rex feels like the stupid kid in class; he's always the last one to get the answers.

Knowing that there could be lots of people out there that have some of his secrets tucked away inside, some secrets that maybe even he doesn't know/remember, makes his stomach turn in anger and anxiety.

"Of course I know!" Noah exclaims. "You tell me everything, you blabbermouth! But, I guess you don't remember - duh, Noah, amnesiac, of course he doesn't remember - wow, yeah, I think I'm panicking a little, because I'm usually much smarter than this."

"You're panicking?"

If Noah, who is the only person at their table who knows who everyone here is, is currently losing it, what chance does Rex have to keep it together?

"Yes, I'm panicking! That's what I do!" Noah snaps.

"Well don't! You're freaking me out."

"You can't just tell someone who's panicking not to panic! That is like the worst thing you can say!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Rex shoots back. "I just got here!"

"Oh man, okay. let's just - let's both breathe."

Rex tries to, biting down the, 'What am I, five?' remark that bubbles up, because while sarcasm might be a great coping method (how would he know), it's probably not the best for making friends.

"Okay." Noah breathes out and maintains at least an illusion of some calm. It helps Rex calm down, too.

"So." Noah begins.

"So."

"You don't remember anything."

"That is correct." Rex says.

"But you called me. And texted me. How did you know my number?"

Fumbling a little, Rex takes his phone out of his pocket and says,

"You were in my phone's contacts. Well, first you were on my phone's background," He has already disabled his password, so he swipes easily and shows Noah the picture. "So I knew we were probably friends."

Noah looks at the background and then smiles a little, kinda surprised about it.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that pic." The blond shakes himself out of it. "But...I mean, I seriously ranted at you. Probably a lot."

"Probably?" Rex raises an eyebrow, unconsciously imitating Agent Six.

Blushing a bit, Noah clears his throat and continues,

"You still wanted to meet some wacko who yelled at you for five minutes straight?"

Rex considers.

"Well...I did get that we were good friends." He says truthfully. "And honestly, I'm pretty short on friends right now."

Noah nods.

"Fair enough."

"So...I guess I came to ask you about...me." Rex admits. "If you don't mind answering like, a few billion questions."

Noah shrugs amicably.

"Seems like a fair trade for how much I yelled at you. But first, I'm still kinda hoping to hear how all..." Noah gestures vaguely, "this happened. We were never sure what it was that would trigger the memory thing."

Rex gulps, his palms going cold and clammy, and he tries not to let his feelings show on his face. Noah deserves something, he tells himself.

He can at least say his name, right?

Right?

I can say that monsters name. He insists to himself. For his new friend. For Noah.

"Um...t-they say...D-doctor Holiday says I was kidnapped. S-she says the name of the guy who did it name is...V-V-Van K-Kleiss."

Rex hates that he stammers as he says it, but honestly, it's a miracle he doesn't vomit or pass out too. It takes a moment, reminding himself where he is, that he's safe now, dammit, before he can glance up from the table.

When he does, he finds Noah frozen, staring at him, open-mouthed yet again.

"Van Kleiss?"

Rex has a feeling that Noah has lost all of his recently collected cool.

"You're saying you were kidnapped. By your mortal enemy. Van Kleiss?!"

Okay, if Noah freaks out again Rex knows he will too, and he can't handle this right now.

"Noah, if you say his name again I will punch you in the face." Rex says - no malice, no anger, just fear in his voice. He can't...he can't...

"Right." Noah breathes again.

They lapse into an awkward silence, Noah choosing to stare at his drink and Rex refusing to look up from his tapping fingers. This is a new experience, he thinks.

This - this particular strain of too much hanging heavily in the air. Then again, Rex has never had a best friend before, so...

After a too loud slurp from his cup, Noah licks dry lips and glances back up again.

"More pizza?" He suggests, a little desperately.

Rex has never been more eager to say yes.


"Any news?"

"No. We tracked Biowulf and Breach to Nevada but they jumped through a portal before we could catch them. No sign he was even with them."

"Damn it."

"..."

"Don't look at me like that, Six. I showed you the x-rays. You know exactly what he did to him. Don't tell me you're not as angry as I am about this!"

"Rebecca..."

"No. No, Six, Van Kleiss has to pay. We speculated what might cause Rex's amnesia - we thought it might be trauma-based. It's the minds' way of coping, sometimes, when current situations are too...too much. But what he did..."

"...I know."

"He tortured Rex. He tortured a teenage boy and I can't...he did it on purpose. He wanted this to happen! He wanted Rex to forget."

"...What worries me most is why."

"I know. Why now? Why does he need Rex?"

"..."

"We'll fix this, Holiday."

"No. We won't; no one can fix what he did. Not ever. But we can make him pay. That will...that will just have to be good enough."

"I hope so."


A/N: Sorry this one is short, guys! I'm still fighting through this weird middle section to get to the fun end part. Thanks for reading!

Replies to reviews:

pandasaur727: Aw, thanks! Hope you're not disappointed with this update :)

YellowAngela: Lol, thanks. I hope you like how this one turned out, too ^^

Guest: Aw, I'm blushing! Thank you!

stephomi: Thank you! Hope you keep reading!

Sparky: Yeah, I feel like Rex is a 'good' guy, but he's not necessarily a nice one. Like, even on the show, he can be very brutal to his enemies and very violent in general. So either because of his own loose morals or because of the way the people around him are, he doesn't have a fully developed moral system. It's an interesting part of his character, I feel. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you keep reading!

Mudkip: Aww, thank you! Hope you enjoyed this one too!| :D

Blackwind137: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter! Please keep reading ^^