AND THEN THERE'S MORE.

o0o

81- Loss (Remember number 80?)

He didn't know how it happened. It just… did.

The soldiers, these new soldiers she had hired, they were different. Too well trained. Too synchronized. Far too good. Six wouldn't be surprised if they were actually robots.

They had finished what they came to do. All the information was wiped and all the bombs were nicely in place. It looked like that it might not be some form of suicide mission after all. For a little while, it did, anyway. For a second, when he told her the hall was clear, and she fleeted him a smile before she moved on. It was one of those smiles that made him want to smile.

Then, suddenly, she was down. And there was blood. He seen the blur of black and gray too late, but he ran toward her anyway.

The soldier over her parried his sword against Six's. Then there was another blur. He had seen it this time. Seen the other three soldiers. Seen the other blade before it came down. But he didn't stop it. He let the cool blade slice over his ribs. That didn't mean he was done, though. They probably thought it did, but it didn't.

Six quickly twisted his own blade around, dragging it through his attacker's neck, before using his other hand to grab on to the one above her and slamming his sword through his chest, pulling it down to the soldier's torso.

The third soldier was quick in his movements. His blade cleanly went through Six's stomach, making him stop and freeze, before the soldier pulled it out again and sliced his open neck.

He was thrown to the floor and he could clearly make out more footsteps running towards them, as if they were echoing in his skull. He tried to choke in a breath, but he couldn't. His eyes jerked around quickly, knowing that they were going to fade away soon, when he seen her. The black hair pooled in front of her face, sticking together from the blood. He couldn't see her. Couldn't see her eyes. Her smile. She wasn't moving.

His arm reached out for her. He couldn't even reach the blood, much less her. He tried to call to her, say her name, scream, anything. His fingers dug into the linoleum, until he couldn't see anymore, until he couldn't feel the smooth surface anymore. He tried to call her again, her name chanting through his mind, until he got too tired to even do that much.

This was his fault. He knew it.

His grip on the floor slacked.

82- "I'm only brave when I have to be."

Rex coughed, a puff of something he assumed was composed of asbestos flying up around him. He moved his fingers and feet gently, feeling them scrape against the concrete. Alright, they're still there and not crushed. Always a good thing. He chanced opening his eyes.

The first thing he could see was a steel beam mere inches from his face. His eyes darted around. Yeah, that's right. The building fell… on top of him. Why on Earth didn't he-

Another cough sounded… beside him. He looked over, seeing a little girl with brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. That's right. There wasn't enough time and she wouldn't move. He made his force field with the Block Party and they fell on impact. It must have knocked him unconscious… The girl seemed fine though. Well, shaken up, but she didn't seem hurt… She must've been awake through the whole thing… That leaves a bad taste in his throat.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks quietly, trying and failing to roll on his side to face her.

She sniffles again, before her big eyes look at him. "Y-You're okay? I-I thought- I thought you were- were-"

"I'm fine, see?" He fakes a chuckle, trying to pull his arms up and failing on that, too. This was a tight fit. Good thing he wasn't terribly claustrophobic… or, used to be, anyway. Trying to calm the girl down seems to help. "I'm alright. Just got knocked for a loop is all."

She sniffles again, before managing to crawl a little closer to him, clinging to his jacket sleeve. Her eyes were wide, wild, scared.

"What's your name?" Rex asked, trying to calm her down with conversation.

It wasn't helping much for him, though. His training with Six was starting to kick into overdrive. Using the Smack Hands or something else to bust his way out would likely cause a collapse on the carefully lain pieces of steel and bricks. The Block Party would probably get him out, but probably not the girl, and he's not going to try something like this on a 'probably.' He had to trust the people on the outside to dig them out and they were likely already working on that. The building was pretty big, though. There's no telling how much rubble was in between them and rescue. He looked around their tiny space, looking for any light that wasn't coming from dimming flashlight beside them, and trying to calculate how much oxygen they had left… Two hours? Maybe?

"Sa-Sandra," she sniffled to him.

His looks didn't betray his thoughts as he just smiled back to her. "I'm Rex."

She nodded. "I- I know. You're on TV. The News."

"Yeah, I'm kinda famous." He arched an eyebrow, smirking. "I'll give you my autograph once we're out of here." Her little hands knotted in his jacket tighter and his smirk faltered a little. "Hey, don't worry about that. I had half of Providence with me. We'll be out of here in no time."

"Y- You think? Really? I- I hope everyone's alright."

"They are. I made sure there was no one else." Okay, that was lie. He didn't have time to look around, so he saved the first person he seen. If it turned out that someone else was hurt, she could call him a liar and hate him all she wanted. It beat her panicking right now and taking all of their oxygen in a few quick breaths.

She didn't say anything in turn.

"It's alright," he tried again, managing to wrap his arm over her shoulders. "We'll be fine. You'll see."

Some dust fell from the plaster held above them and Rex couldn't help but suck in a worried breath. Don't cave in. Don't cave in.

Was… that a knock? "Hello?" Yep, he was starting to go insane in all this.

"Rex!" It was Six's voice. A very, worried Six's voice.

It was the best voice in the world right now. "Six! We're okay. We're not hurt. Tiny space, though."

"We'll get you out. Don't move," the voice ordered and Rex was inclined to follow orders right now.

The little girl's eyes had gone wide. "Wh- Who was-"

"That's Six," he explained to her with a genuine smile this time. "He'll get us out. Don't worry. He's the best guy that could've gotten this job right now."

And then, light. To the point where he had to blink it away.

"You alright, kid?" Six and a few of the other soldiers were crouched around the hole they made, looking down at the pair.

"Never better," the boy breathed, before moving his arm from under the girl. "Come on," he said, talking to her again, "You go first."

"But what abou-"

"I'm fine, remember?" It wasn't like she had much say in it. Some of the soldiers were already hauling her out. Once she was safe, Rex gratefully took Six's offered hand, tugging himself out as well.

He took in a deep breath of fresh air, noting how very gray his clothes were right now. He was in desperate need of a shower. "Anyone else caught under this?" he asked, once they were safely out of the rubble.

"No one. Just you two," Six informed. His voice was back to its level, stoic self. "Holiday said your bios never faltered."

It question of "how did you do it?" was unspoken. Rex simply looked over to the little girl, who was wrapped in blanket, being handed water, and scooped in her mother's hug all at once.

"I'm only brave when I have to be."

83- Young (Another scenario of how this happened. There's so many.)

This made the third day. One made a note of it, puffing frozen air of his lungs, walking the cold streets. He sighed, purposefully walking into a barren alley. He continued down it before stopping… and turning around to face his stalker.

And he stood there. Young boy, very young, cold, needed food, determined fire in his eyes.

"Why do you keep following me around?" Even though he asked, he knew. This boy had been in danger on the morning of that first day and, dammit, One saved him. At first, he thought that the boy looked at him like a personal guardian, but that wasn't it. The boy didn't see him as a guardian. He seen him as a savior. As a way out.

One knew this and yet… he hadn't taken him in. "I've explained before," he told the boy, again, "I'm a mercenary. A killer. I don't need a kid running around me heels."

The boy's jaw stayed resolute.

"You're too young, boy. I won't take you in."

"I don't want you to," his voice spoke, cracking. It was the first time One had heard him speak. He knew the child wasn't dumb, but he didn't know if he had the ability anymore. Apparently, he did, because he continued. "You can teach me."

"And why would I want to do that?" he asked, "Again. You're too young."

"That's not it," the boy replied, "I know you'd prefer a young student to an older one."

… He was right. Well, he wasn't mentally dumb and, apparently, not intellectually dumb either.

The youth continued. "You think I'm weak. You think I'm broken. Just try and teach me. If I fail you, at all, even on the first try, then kick me to the side. I won't bother you again."

One doubted that. Sort of… The boy was by far not an idiot. "How do I know you're even worth it?"

"I've followed you down these past three days, haven't I?"

He smirked. "Oh, yeah? Then where do I sleep at night?"

"The hotel on the north end of town. You stay in the east corner room."

So, HE was that sound. The boy must've only found him last night. "Were you expecting scraps?"

"Don't belittle me." It was spoken with venom. With an age that was well beyond the child's years.

One looked at him. Really looked at him, studying his body and that look in his eyes. "… What's your name, boy?"

The boy didn't speak.

He smirked again. "What? Don't have one?"

He still didn't speak.

His smirk fell away… One turned, walking back down another alley, before calling over his shoulder. "Are you hungry?"

He could almost feel the boy's eyes narrow. "You don't have to feed me."

"I don't have to do anything," he called back.

84- Shadow (Continued from 83; Cybra came up with the name "Shadow")

"And this is your room," One said, opening the door. He took note of the boy's eyes going wide and his jaw almost landing on the ground.

He immediately looked up to the man. "Please. I don't want special treatment and I don't want to be a burden."

"If this were either, you wouldn't be getting your own room," he told the boy, sticking his thumb in there. "It's yours."

The boy looked at it again. A bed sat against a corner, but the room could've easily fit at least three or four more of them. Not to mention the long bay window against the south wall, looking out over the beach. He just gulped at the sight. Even when he was at… his past home, he hadn't a room like this. He hadn't had much of a room at all. He looked back up to the man. "Thank you, Master."

One nodded. "Now, I expect you to keep it tidy and I expect you to wash up at least once a day." The boy had been out on the streets so long, he wanted to make sure the point was across. "No, talking back. This is my house, so my rules. And you show up every time we have a meal and make sure to eat your fill. You'll also be pulling your own weight around here, but…" He looked up at the wall clock in the hallway. "We'll save that for the morning. We'll get you an alarm clock soon, but for now, I'll just get you up bright and early in the morning… and when I do, I want you to remember that no talking back rule."

The boy was looking about the room again, but he heard every word. He simply nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Alright then. Get plenty of rest, Shadow. Good night." He stretched out a shoulder and was about to turn toward his own room.

"Good ni-… Master?"

"Hmm?" One turned back.

"May I ask a question?"

He smirked. "You are asking one."

… The boy's brow furrowed. Oh, he was going to be fun. "May I ask another?" His voice sounded less innocent this time and more his age. More like whoever the real him was.

One just chuckled. "Sure."

"Why do you call me… Shadow?"

Had he? Oh, yeah, he has been. He shrugged. "I'm sorry if I offended you. It's just… you wouldn't give your name and, well, that's what I've been calling you while you were stalking me down." He was, after all, his little shadow for those few days. "If you want me to call you by another name, I'll do so."

The boy seemed to think on it for a second, before shaking his head. "No… Shadow's fine."

"Alright then." He continued on his trek to his room. "Good night, Shadow."

"Good night, Master." Shadow took a deep breath before going into his new room, as if trying to brave it.

85- Superpowers

Six was merely enjoying the morning paper, when the boy flew past him. He straightened the paper out.

"WOOO!" Rex's joy could probably be heard on the other end of Providence, not like anyone would be surprised to hear it.

"You don't want to wear yourself out," Six said, not looking up from the paper and sipping at his coffee.

"Jealous much?" Rex asked on another fly by. The boy had a new build for the past few days, but he couldn't really figure out how to make it work. This morning, Six woke up to this and wasn't surprised in the least.

"I like my feet firmly planted on the ground. Thank you."

"Yeah, you're jealous," Rex decided, slowing down and managing a decent landing. "And here I thought you were the super hero with that hover board of yours."

Six just shrugged, flipping through the paper. "There's a difference between having abilities and being a hero."

Rex rolled his shoulder, stretching his back, making sure all the kinks were worked out. "Your point?"

… The man eventually looked up to the EVO… before a small smile crossed his features… right before he buried it again, putting the paper aside, and standing. "Ready for training?"

"I considered that training!"

"I didn't."

"Argh."

86- Eyes

He loved her eyes. Yes, they were green and that did earn them bonus points, but that was all. Just bonus points.

He loved her eyes because of the way she looked at him. Sometimes, he wished that she wouldn't look at him like that, though. Not every day was as clean and… innocent as others were. He loved to look into her eyes before letting his own wander down the rest of her, eventually just coming back. On other days, he just couldn't look at all. These were those days that he felt he didn't deserve her eyes on him. These were those days when he knew he didn't deserve that look.

She bandaged a cut on his arm, every now and then glancing to him with that look, only it was tenfold. It was caring, forgiving, dare he think, loving. No, he didn't deserve it. Not from her.

Usually, she would try to get him to spill what was wrong and it wouldn't work… not right away, at least. Today, she knew what was bugging him and he could tell that she was trying to find something that would help him.

He had a moral code at one point in time. Close to the top of that list was to not kill children, to never make them a victim. It seemed, since the beginning of this new war, he's had to struggle, just to live with himself.

He felt her hand smooth the bandage, but her gentle touch didn't leave his arm. He felt disgusting.

"You had no choice." Her voice was quiet, sad, concerned, warm. She was trying to offer comfort. A being like her was offering comfort to something like him.

He slid off the exam table, turning around, not even daring to look in her direction. He couldn't. He didn't deserve her, her look, nor her comfort. "I know." He walked away.

87- Inheritance (OMFG, THIS IS SO AU, but adorable)

A lot of things had changed in the last ten or so years, particularly the world and particularly Rex. For right now, Rex himself, age of about twenty-seven, ran down an abandoned and destroyed street.

He was breathing hard after running for so long, before he finally managed to slink behind a wall and look at his pursuer… whom he couldn't find. His finger fell against his ear piece, his deeper voice coming out in pants. "Noah. Where'd it go?"

"You are asking ME!" The man on the other line asked back. "There's so much interference going on with the nanites alone, not to mention- Dammit! I think I'm going to lose you, Rex."

"What? No. Don't say that. As soon as you say things like that, it usually-… Noah?" His answer was static. He cursed beneath his breath, before looking out to the street again. This EVO had a bad feel with him, especially since it manage to suppress other nanites, therefore, other EVO abilities. He had to rely on the old fashioned way… Good thing he had such a paranoid guy like Six as a trainer or he'd be screwed right abo-

He stopped thinking, having heard something. Rex strained to listen against the wind howling through the buildings… Where- He heard it again and took off after it. Had to remain quiet, though, or that EVO would spring on him. This whole situation just sucked.

A voice called out to him. "Wait!" and he slid to halt, looking for the owner. He finally spied them. A boy, young, cowered in a corner of an alley behind some rubble. "You- Are you Providence?"

"Do I look like Providence?" Rex managed a smirk, moving closer to the boy, but stopped when he stiffened. Rex just knelt down to the child's level. "No. I'm not Providence."

"Didn't think they changed their color scheme to green… or allowed soul patches…"

Rex smirked. Cracking jokes. If the kid was anything like he used to be, he was terrified right now. "Did your family live here?"

"Did." It came out almost like a sob and Rex's smirk melted again.

"What's your name, kid?"

"… Luke… Who are you?"

"Rex," he then stretched a hand out to shake the boy's hand. Might as well be civil… And the boy did take it in a small, firm grasp, before letting go.

"Who do you work for, Rex?" The boy, Luke, tucked his arm back around him.

Rex shrugged. "You can say that we're privately owned."

And then he heard a snarl. Rex turned, spotting that feline EVO on the roofs across from them, looking at its new prey. He tried to build something, but the blue lines only flickered across his arms. Then, the EVO leapt for them.

"Move!" The boy took no time, scrambling away from behind Rex as the EVO lunged for him. He pulled out the sword on his back, parrying the claws on their first blow, but still managed to push him back some.

The boy turned while running, to see the EVO make another leap for Rex. "Stop!" He stretched his arms out… and the EVO fell, passing out before reaching its target.

Rex, however, was a little stunned, before making a step to the boy. "How did you-?" The world decided to flip just then and he had to hold on to the wall to keep from falling.

Luke ran up to him. "I'm sorry! My power's only supposed to work on other EVOs, I didn't-" He took a few deep breaths, calming himself, before Rex started coming back to himself, too.

"Wait," he put a hand to his head, steadying the world. "You're an EVO… You were the one controlling the nanites? I thought it was…" Rex looked over at the sleeping feline, then back to the boy, stunned.

His commlink cackled. "Rex! I got you back. You still alive, buddy?"

"Uh, yeah," he put his finger to his ear, looking at the kid… and smiling, "… Noah. Tell everyone we're going to have a house guest tonight."

"We are-?"

Rex cut the comm off for a few seconds. "You hungry?"

Luke looked at him, then to the EVO, and out at the rest of the city. He thought on it for a little bit, before looking back to Rex with a little smirk. "Always."

88- Mystery (In regards to the Holix in "Riddle of the Sphinx")

It was… a blatant mystery. He decided to pick then, of all times, to say something?

Six sat on the edge of his bed. The clock shone back a 2:45, but he hadn't been able to sleep that night. Not since what happened in Cairo. He was sure Holiday was up, too, but probably beating the hell out of a punching bag somewhere. She had been ready to jump when he latched on to her shoulders… A part of him regretted doing that. She could've taken Black Knight and Six would've smirked the whole time.

But that wasn't what was on his mind. Instead, he felt a whole lot of confusion. A whole lot of regret.

In those tombs, surrounded by those damn dogs, he knew they were about to die and he knew he would never have a second chance to tell her. Even as he breached the topic, he had wished he had done it sooner. He had wished his past self wasn't a moron and had told her back then. At the very least, he wished that he, right now, in the present, wasn't such a moron for not telling her as soon as he realized it.

Flirting and looking up and down her legs was one thing. He quickly began to realize that she really did care for whoever he used to be. Almost immediately after, he realized that he cared for her, too. Her beautiful body was only one thing he liked about her. The rest of her… he loved. There was no way someone like him would develop feelings like that over a woman he barely knew for a maybe a month at the time. Something must have happened. He had to have loved her back then, too.

And yet, he never spoke. Maybe he was wrong or maybe his past self had a reason to keep her away, some reason to distrust her. That had kept him quiet for another few months, until he just simply couldn't find the flaw that would make him keep it to himself. After that, he decided to just figure it out later and tell her now…

That's when he found out why his past self never spoke up. He couldn't do it. He was terrified. Terrified of rejection was a big one, but it was just one. What if she accepted what he felt for her? Was he good enough for her? He still had mercenary—killer—blood in him. He could very easily ruin her life. He could very easily have her inadvertently killed. How could he so selfishly risk her happiness, her life, over something so pathetic? Expressing his love to her? That was crazy! Something idiots did in movies! He wasn't about to risk anything with something that'll just pass with enough time. And it will pass.

But he almost said it. In that moment he was praying for a second chance. Just a little more time. So he can finally tell her and they can be together for just a little while.

Never expected it to work.

Then, when she pressed the subject, he chocked. Of course, with Black Knight running away, it wasn't the time for… saying such things. But after it was over, she asked him again. She gave him another open window and what did he say?

"It can wait," he whispered to the walls, leaning his chin against his folded hands. It can wait. Every second that ticked by was driving him insane. Why didn't he tell her then? Sure, it was in front of Rex and Providence, but he could've when they got back or when he helped her unload what equipment they brought along or, well, right now. He was sure, after all of that, she was awake.

More excuses just continued to come to mind. He just couldn't.

It was a mystery…

89- Just out of reach

This just wasn't fair. He was like 16 or… something… 17? It didn't matter. Point being, he was a big kid now. He ran in a freaking motorcycle gang. He fought against of the most deadliest people on Earth in one go. He saved the entire world how many times?

And yet, he must come home to things like this.

He debated on using the Boogie Pack or Punk Busters, but they were way too big for their tiny kitchen, so Rex decided to put his teenage intellect to good use. He opened the icebox doors and started using the shelves inside as a makeshift ladder.

There was NO WAY they were going to keep that damn cookie jar out of his reach tonight.

"What. Are. You doing?"

Rex fell on his back.

After a few groans of pain, he finally managed to get up on his knees to sort of face Six, who had caught him in the act. Neither of them looked particularly happy to see the other.

"Why," Rex pointed at the cookie jar on top of the fridge, "are the stupid cookies up there?"

"Why do you ask?" And Six sent him back a smirk. One of the less liked things about Six losing his memory was that he played dirty, which he used to, but now he openly enjoyed it. "Can't you reach?"

"NO!" Rex decided to actually stand up, instead of rolling around on the floor. "Someone pushed them all the way to the back wall!"

"Hmm," Six acted like he was thinking. "That is a mystery."

"IT IS NOT A MYSTERY." The kid held his face in one hand, closing the refrigerator door with the other. "What's the point of you buying cookies if you're just going to do that?"

Six was quiet for a few seconds, thinking, until he decided to come out with the honest answer and the reason he bought them in the first place. He shrugged. "Free show."

Rex screamed into his hands.

90- "Landslide" by Dixie Chicks

She tucked the child in, getting more and more worried about him. He didn't seem tired, but he wasn't very talkative. Actually, she had seen the look he had on his face on the face of another man many times… He was too young to have that look about him…

"Mom." Ah, so he decided to speak.

Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong, baby?"

He stayed quiet for a little longer, almost like he was trying to find the words and put them together. Yes, he was far too young for something like that.

And then, finally, he asked it. "Where's my dad?" She frowned, but he continued. "I know Rex isn't my dad, even if he treats me like his kid. So… Where is he?"

How old was this boy? Five? She knew he had been thinking about something off and on for a long time now… He was so young to be thinking so abstractly like this. No doubt something that he got from her.

"He's not here," she sighed.

"I know that, but… what happened to him? Is he-?"

"He isn't dead," she said, moving a little closer to him, "At least, I highly doubt he's dead."

"Then where is he? Why did he leave?"

She smiled. "He left because he loves you."

"… What?" Good lord, he looked exactly like his father there for a second.

"He loves you," she repeated, "And he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you." He still kept that blank look, so she elaborated a little. "Me and Rex, we can protect ourselves. We fight all the time. But you were so young and you're still really young, so-"

"He's in trouble?"

She sighed again, but managed to keep her smile. "Sort of." She glanced to the clock beside his bed, before looking back to him. "I'll tell you all about him in the morning, okay? You need your sleep." Holiday stood, gently pushing him down into his bed.

"You promise?"

"I promise." She kissed him on the forehead. "Good night, sweety."

She was almost out of the room, until he called her back. "Hey, mom?"

"Hmm?" Her hand stopped over his light switch.

"You don't know if he's… you know… So, you haven't seen him?"

She smiled again. "No, but I wouldn't doubt that he hasn't seen us. He's sneaky like that… Good night."

"Night," he told her, watching the room go dark, and snuggling into his warm blankets. He wasn't very tired, though. His mind was trying to go through every piece of every man he's seen in the distance, blending in with everyone else, trying to pick out which one he might have been… but there were a lot of faces…

The tree outside rustled in nonexistent breeze.

o0o

One more chapter, folks! Man, I have to do my Secret Santa for LJ GenRex comm. Also, "There's something I have to tell you before it's too late." 8D

Just pointing that out. Anyway.

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